Silent Irken
by ZadZap
Summary: REPOSTING AR Alternate Reality , ZaDr! Aliens live on Earth along side humans and have jobs just like humans. Dib and his teacher Tharius Leaf; who is an alien himself stumble upon a young beaten alien in the street who like Tharius, is an Irken.
1. Chapter 1

**Silent Irken chapter 1**

by *ZadZap

Summery: AR (Alternate Reality), ZaDr! Aliens live on Earth along side humans and have jobs just like humans. Dib and his teacher Tharius Leaf; who is an alien himself stumble upon a young beaten alien in the street who like Tharius, is an Irken.

The tall Irken stood amongst the high school students as they got into their various transports. He put his hands on his hips as his green eyes scanned the crowed for any misbehaving teens. Without warning he grabbed a running Dib by the collar of his shirt and Torque in the other hand. "Why is it always you Torque, must you beat up every living thing you see?" He said. His voice sounded dull, as if he was board with all that was going on but it was always hard to tell. "Sorry sir…" Dib replied but received a glare from Tharius. "Speak when spoken to smeet." Tharius said.

He took a glance at Torque and gave a snarl before asking the question once again for Torque. "Because Dib is so easy to pick on it almost makes me laugh." Torque said with a loud laugh. Tharius shook his head and shooed the bully away before letting go of the raven haired boy. "I thought we talked about this Membrane; come, let's take a walk." Tharius said as Dib followed. Dib sighed, when his teacher asked him to take a walk it usually meant he needed to talk. He followed his Teacher as they walked around the school yard in complete silence almost.

"You really need to start defending yourself Membrane, stop running away." Tharius said. He put his hands in the pockets of his dress pants as they took a walk toward the empty running track. "Believe me, I try Mr. Leaf…it's just that…" Dib tried to think of a reason, hell he didn't know of one. He could fight against anything except the people of his own race it seemed. Tharius chuckled; he used to be exactly like Dib when he was younger and on his home planet of Irk. Course, being too afraid to protect him self caused him to leave his home planet and find another.

"Don't let the whole world pick on you Dib…do you smell…" Tharius trailed off and looked around. He had the scent of Irken blood in the air but it was hard to tell until they got closer to it. His antenna moved toward the source of the smell; he had Dib follow just incase the boy was needed. "I have the faint smell of blood but I can't tell if it's an injured animal or not." Dib replied. Before he could ask what his teacher was picking up the Irken hushed him as they got closer. Dib covered his nose and gasped when they got to the edge of the woods where he saw it.

It was barely visible with the skin color but he could definitely make it out from the green grass. "It's an Irken, badly injured…I want you to stay back just incase it tries anything." Tharius said. With that Dib stopped a few feet away from the science teacher and watched as he got closer. Tharius kneeled down next to the unconscious Irken to see that it was still breathing and weak. He brought the Irken into his arms and motioned for Dib to come over and take him. "Stay here till I get my car, we're going to my base so we can fix him up…I'll need your help." He said

Dib didn't protest and took the injured Irken without a fight; he had cuts everywhere on his body. It looked like he had fresh stitches on his neck where his vocal cords might have been. Dib couldn't keep himself from examining the alien's naked body and his eyes wondered to the crotch. He blushed and looked away; this wasn't the time to think about such things like that. His thoughts were interrupted when a black car drove up beside Dib and Tharius set him in the back. Dib took the passengers seat and buckled his seat belt before Tharius made his way home.

"I want you go gather all the medical supplies and meet me down at the lab to fix him up. I'm hoping to be rid of him after he is fully healed." Tharius said and then parked the car in the drive. Dib got out of the car and went to open the brown door that led into the house for his teacher. Once the older Irken was inside with the injured one Dib made his way to the bathroom. He looked in the bottom drawer the medicine that had Irken symbols on it along with some bandages. The raven haired boy was thankful that Mr. Leaf had decided to make the class learn Irken.

Once everything was gathered in Dib's arms he ran to the kitchen and opened the fridge up. He stepped inside and it instantly turned into an elevator that instantly brought him down to the lab. The door opened and he walked out and over to the table the young Irken was lying still. Tharius was using a pair of tweezers on the younger Irken's arm and pulled something out of it. "Good, your here…this Irken doesn't have any ID, he's an illegal alien." Tharius said taking the supplies. Dib sighed; he guessed that meant that he was supposed to hack and get the Irken one then.

"Is that a chip?" Dib asked taking a seat on the computer chair.

"So it appears, and not from his PAK…dispose of it would you?" Tharius said.

Dib took the chip and smashed it before throwing it in the trash and getting on the computer. The older Irkin gave him a wire from the beaten Irken's PAK and then he connected it to the computer. Tharius busied himself with fixing up the injured Irken as Dib hacked the main computer. "Poor boy's vocal cords are damaged…it may take weeks for them to heal." Tharius said. Dib stood up once he was done and went over to his teacher who was busy with bandaging up the injured. "All that's left to do is waiting till he wakes up I guess…I want you to go home." Tharius said.

"Yeah, he'll probably freak out, see you at school tomorrow." Dib said.

"We'll see." Tharius said as Dib left to go home.


	2. Chapter 2

Silent Irken Chapter 2

by =ZadZap

The green eyed Irken lie on the couch in the living room of his base and read a history book. Seeing as he was a teacher at the school he needed to brush up on the history of the humans. Right now he was reading about the Nazi's and what they had done all those years ago to Jews. "If I didn't know any better I would say that Hitler was an Irken." Tharius mumbled. He had decided that he could waste time till the injured Irken would finally awaken and he could interrogate. There was no way he would allow an invasion to take hold on this planet while he breathed.

Tharius had been living on Earth for the past hundred years and half of it he lived in a big lab. Well, not lived; more or less questioned about whether he was planning to invade or not and stuff. The answer was no; he had explained that he left his home planet because he hated his people. He had been one of the Tallest and Irk was running smoothly up until five years before. Mistress Miyuki had elected two dolts into the leadership circle, it wasn't the best decision she made. Three years into their initiation Impending Doom came into play and it all turned down hill.

A plot to get rid of the other Tallest had been set in motion from the beginning it had seemed. Tharius had gone by Tallest Green at the time when he had uncovered Red and Purple's little plan. An Irken scientist had messed something up in the lab causing mold spores to become monsters. It had gone after Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork and many other Irken soldiers. Tharius hadn't been on Irk at the time because he was on a small vacation that Miyuki had given him. He had been under a lot of stress that week and definitely needed it, only Red and Purple hadn't realized.

He had come back a week later only to see a very surprised Red and Purple staring at him. Tharius shook his head; this was not something to think about when he had found a lovely home here. He had joined the Resisty a year after he had reached Earth, joining them was an accident. He had been trying to intercept a signal with the few Irken's that still followed him then. Lardnar had just happened to pick up and wasn't all that happy to see an Irken on the big screen. Tharius Chuckled; the look on his face was hilarious when he mentioned that he was surrendering.

"Sir, the injured Irken is awake now…" A female voice said coming from somewhere in the base. Tharius sat up and stretched before he got up and thanked the computer for her efforts. He made his way down to the lab and over to the table where the other was strapped down. This was just incase he had tried to escape which would have been a little hard in the first place. Everything needed a passcode to be opened everywhere in the base, even the front door. The other Irken was starting to struggle to try to get out which was opening up the once closed wounds.

Yelling the word stop in Irken caused the smaller to stop and look at his captor in surprise. "I'm going to get you go but I want answers from you and you better be completely truthful Irken. If you are here to invade I will let you know right now that if you do I will not hesitate to kill." He said. The smaller just looked at his captor for a few seconds before opening his mouth. No sound came out so he just gave a nod in response and Tharius took his restraints off of his wrists. He threw him a notebook and a pen before taking a seat right in front of the smaller Irken.

"I want you to write down your answers as I ask the questions." Tharius said.

The younger quickly wrote something down before Tharius could begin anything and he looked.

_Tallest Green_

"No, not anymore; I renounced my status and the Irken way after Red and Purple took control."

-A few hours later-

Dib walked down the road; he was glad that his teacher only lived a few blocks from him. He was kind of annoyed that Mr. Leaf hadn't said anything about the injured Irken they had found yesterday. He hoped the smaller Irken was all right; hopefully his injuries weren't as bad as they were. Dib knew that Irken's could heal fast seeing as Tharius had taught him a few things. He had seen Tharius with a few scrapes that only took about an hour to be fully healed once. It was all thanks to the PAK that was on their backs, it kept them alive and healthy almost 24/7.

Then again, Tharius had made it to where he didn't need his PAK to live like most Irkens. Thanks to the people at his father's lab the adult Irken had had his one organ replaced with human ones. His weakness to water was still present but that didn't stop him from jogging in the rain. Once Dib reached the Irken's house he ran up to the porch and knocked on the door. The door was swung open by a small robot with red eyes that faded to pink when they saw Dib there. "Master is busy, the injured has finally awoken and he is questioning him." The robot said to Dib.

"So he's awake now? Thanks Riz, is it ok if I come in?" Dib asked and the robot let him in. Riz was a robot that Tharius had made mainly to keep that weird computer company when she was board. She was built out of the remains of many other robots that his teacher called a SIR unit. They were used on Irk to mainly help in invading other planets; he thought they looked cool. The raven haired boy took a seat on the couch as he listened to the voices coming from below him. He was fluent in Irken but it was hard to understand when the voice was muffled behind stuff.

There were a bunch of clicks and stuff that was involved in the language that were masked. He looked over to Riz who was getting a cup from the kitchen cabinet and then turned the water on. Dib must have spaced out for a second because the next thing he knew the cup was in his face. "You didn't have to give me anything Riz but thanks for the offer." Dib said taking the cup. Riz cocked her head to the side and took a seat on Dib's lap when Computer made an appearance. "Good afternoon Dib, did you want me to inform Tharius that you are up here?" She asked.

"Nah, I'll go down myself." Dib said.

He got up from his spot on the couch after he set Riz down and went to the fridge elevator. Once the elevator stopped he got out and opened the door to the lab revealing Tharius and the other. The older Irken's antenna leaned in Dib's direction before his head turned in the teen's direction. "Ah Dib, I do hope you got your homework done before coming over." He said. Tharius moved away from the smaller Irken whose eyes widened and tried to say something in Irken. "Yeah, I finished it before school was done and over with today…why is he freaking out?" Dib asked.

Tharius looked over at the troubled Irken in a questioning manner obviously a bit confused. He himself didn't know why the smaller was freaking out and threw the notebook at him to tell. Once the other Irken was done with whatever he was writing he hesitantly gave the journal to Tharius. With a whistle the older looked at the paper and then at Dib before sighing. "Your swollen Eyeballs tattoo, they must have done something to Zim." He said and put his glasses on. Dib looked at the Swollen Eyeball tattoo on his arm and then to Tharius and the Irken named Zim.

"I quit the swollen Eyeballs after I turned thirteen…what did they do?" Dib asked the younger. The one named Zim looked at Tharius unsure of whether or not this human could be trusted at all. Tharius scratched his head and turned a few pages in the note book as if searching for the info. "The only reason he's here is because of those assholes running Irk banished him. He did a few things that they didn't approve of…killed Mistress Miyuki and Tallest Spork with a monster. Messed up Impending Doom I and they banished him but he wanted to prove himself again." He said.

Zim's antenna lowered at what Tharius was talking about; he didn't want to hear any of it. "Red and Purple refused and shoved him aside but he just wouldn't shut up so they tortured him. Shot him out to space with the coordinates locked hoping that he would just be floating. Fortunately he found Earth two years ago but the Swollen Eyeballs found him." He said. Dib gave Zim a sympathetic look, the young Irken had been through so much in his life it seemed. "Can you fix his vocal cords?" Dib asked breaking the silence that had developed just then.

"I'll look into it…in the mean time; he'll be staying with me-he turned and looked to Zim.-That means you will have to be used to this human, you'll be seeing a lot more of him." He said. Tharius turned to the computer and pulled open a drawer to reveal his folded black wallet. "Dib, I want you to buy some clothes for him…take him with you." Tharius continued on. Dib scratched his head, how exactly was he going to take Zim with him, the younger Irken was naked. You needed clothes to be out in public; he wondered if the older Irken was aware of this.

"You are aware that you can't go outside naked like that right?" Dib asked staring at Tharius.

"Oh yes…humans and their silly rules about public nudity. Jackie, clothe the ex invader," Tharius said to the computer.

"As you wish Sir," The computer said.

It was at this time that Zim had actually noticed for the first time that he was lacking clothing. He had been naked in front of the former Tallest and one of the humans he had called Dib Earlier. To make matters worse this Dib-human used to be part of the organization that captured him. If Zim had his way he would kill this human if former Tallest Green wasn't friends with him. Without warning some robotic arms put Irken clothing out in front of him and he quickly got dressed. "And if he tries to run from me?" Dib asked, uncomfortable with asking said question.

"Take Riz with you, she hasn't been out of the base for a while." Tharius said busying himself. Dib nodded and waited for Zim to be done with getting dressed and they went up the elevator. It was silent; Dib hated silence…maybe that's why he talked all the time; he didn't know. He took a glance over at Zim and received a glare not five seconds later, this would be fun. Dib stepped out of the fridge and held the door open so that Zim could follow him out to the living room. "Hey Riz, Tharius said your going shopping with me and Zim." Dib said as the robot looked at him.

Her pink eyes scanned Dib and then Zim who she held her hand out to for which Zim hesitated. He took her hand and shook it making Dib smile at Riz's display of her own affection toward Zim. "Ok, lets go get some clothes for you Zim…you look about my size." Dib said thoughtfully. He opened the front door and let Zim and Riz out before locking the door behind him carefully. "Alright, since you're not that much of a people person the mall is out." Dib said as they walked. As he thought about it Riz held Zim's hand and talked animatedly to him while he listened to her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Silent Irken chapter 3**

by *ZadZap

Zim and Dib walked in complete silence with Riz holding Zim's hand, she seemed to like him. The robot liked anyone really she mainly stuck to Dib when she wasn't with Tharius at the base. "And that is called a Mall; master doesn't like me going there for some reason." She said. Dib chuckled; she had been talking to the Irken non-stop but he could tell that Zim was annoyed. Maybe it was the fact that he was in the presence of a human who used to be a member of The SE. He really should think about getting that tattoo removed but getting them removed hurt.

"Tharius won't let you go to the mall because you almost blew up the food court." Dib replied. He knew he wasn't in the conversation but he felt that he needed to remind the little SIR Unit. Dib thought he heard what sounded like an annoyed grunt come from the robot but ignored it. Riz always showed attitude when she wanted to go somewhere but wasn't able to. Zim's eye twitched; he didn't care where they went as long as it was over and done with in a matter of minutes. He gave a sigh and looked at the SIR unit and wished Red hadn't disassembled his.

Six months of traveling without sound when the main thing that made noise was his SIR Unit. His fingers ventured up to his neck and felt where the wound was merely a stitched up scar. He could hardly believe it had been two years and six months since he had found this planet. Two years since the man known as Agent Darkbooty gave out false promises to help him. A year since Agent Rainbow Smiles joined and made him feel what an Irken should not ever feel. A month since Agent Rainbow Smiles started beating him when he didn't get what he wanted.

He shouldn't have been fooled by that smile that Agent Rainbow Smiles always had on him. If anything that experience made him bitter toward humans' altogether; he wanted them all dead. Thinking about exploding this planet made his antenna wiggle in pleasure, it was appealing. He must have been deep in his thoughts because Dib-human touched his shoulder. It wasn't a rough touch, it was just a regular touch with concern mixed into it; humans were strange. "Penny for your thoughts," Dib asked and Zim slapped his hand away; stupid humans.

"Ok, maybe that wasn't the best idea." Dib mumbled, but he was only trying to help Zim out. Riz sighed and walked behind them both and decided it was a good idea that she had tagged along. The human was failing and she could tell that he sort of held something for the little Irken. She realized they were finally reaching the clothing store so she took their hands and led. A small chuckle came from Dib as he let the SIR unit take them around the store and Zim wasn't happy. "Ok Riz, we missed the men's clothing…" Dib said prying his hand out of the SIR unit's hand.

About three hours later Zim had picked out about a dozen pairs of cloths which he gave to Dib. Thankfully it all fit in two large bags for which he was very grateful for seeing as they were heavy. Riz had decided that she was tired of walking and sat on Dib's head while they walked back. "I would appreciate it if you didn't use my head as a chair, it makes my head hurt." Dib said. The Robot did the equivalent of rolling her eyes; she didn't have pupils so she moved them in a circles. "Sorry Dib…hey Zim, lets get ice cream at the ice cream shop!" Riz said getting off of Dib.

She took Zim's hand once again and dragged him across the street to the Ice Cream shop. Sighing Dib followed and checked the wallet Tharius had given him before they left the lab of his base. It looked like they had twenty more dollars so there was plenty enough for the ice cream. He looked both ways to make sure there were no cars coming and crossed the street. He hadn't had to deal with an excited Riz since she had been first created but that had been a year ago. She was more emotionless but that was probably because she liked copying Tharius most of the time.

Once he entered the building he found that Riz ask Zim what flavor of ice cram he wanted to have. Zim didn't seem too happy about the SIR unit asking him what flavor he wanted and him not talking. Once Dib reached the two he scooted the alien over while scolding Riz for running off. He turned back to Zim and smiled. "I'll just point at a flavor and if you want it just nod." Dib said. Zim gave a nod as he eyed the human warily, still unsure if he should trust the human or not. He watched as the human pointed to each individual flavor as he eyed them with disgust.

Finally the human's finger landed on the chocolate chip ice cream and Zim gave a happy nod. He loved the taste of chocolate; ate it every chance he got to back when he had lived his life on Irk. He waited patiently while Riz told the human what flavor she wanted and the human as well. "Hey Allen, were ready to order now." The human said to the person in the back. The man's mustache twitched into a smile and got their ice cream into bowls and Dib's into a cone. They took a seat in one of the booths with Riz sitting across from Zim and Dib sat next to Riz.

He took a few licks and looked out the window; the sky was full of clouds as if it would rain soon. It wouldn't surprise him in the least though seeing as it had been raining almost all week as of late. Good thing he always wore his trench coat; he may need it for Zim later incase it rained. Tharius must not have paid attention to the forecast but then again it didn't surprise Dib at all. The older Irken was never one for watching TV, especially all the interesting Irken programs. He looked back at his ice cream cone to see that the ice cream wasn't in the cone or on the table.

Dib looked over to Zim who shook his head and then pointed to Riz who had ice cream on her. She let out an obnoxious mechanical laugh; sometimes that robot knew how to get on his nerves. He promised himself one day that he would fix up whatever Tharius had done making her. Then again Tharius had said that personality was better than being a mindless robot being. Dib had to agree although he wondered if Tharius sometimes included himself in the personality part. The Irken never really showed that much emotion in the first place except on certain things.

When Zim was done with his ice cream Dib took the bowl and threw it away in the trashcan. "Lets go, I'm sure Tharius is waiting for us to get back." Dib said holding the door open for them both. Zim waited for Riz to go out first before he made his way out the door and to the sidewalk. They both waited patiently for Dib as he made his way to both of them and walked. It was relatively silent again but it was comfortable silence, at least to Dib but Zim seemed annoyed. If he was able to talk he could thank the smelly Earth beast for giving him…no he still wouldn't.

-With Tharius-

Blue goggles were strapped onto the taller Irken's eyes as he knelt over the very messy table. The tool in his hand would spark every few seconds as it touched the small device on the table. A few of the sparks landed on his hand and pulled it away with an angry growl accompanying it. There were a few Irken curses that followed along with some English curses put in to. He had been burnt before but it still kind of hurt; water didn't hurt as bad as being burnt by fire. Sparks might have been the same but he wasn't exactly sure. "If it weren't for the mute…" He mumbled.

In his eyes this was more of burden than anything; there was no way he would take him in. stupid ex invader could take care of him self; he didn't care if the boy was defect or injured very bad. The Irken gave a sigh and sat down; maybe the smaller could be helpful around the base. Tharius would just have to monitor the shorter Irken's every move incase he tried stuff. It wasn't that he didn't trust the defect but he did have quite the attitude as he had seen earlier today. Tharius looked at the clock to see that it was almost seven; they better be back soon.

His thoughts were interrupted by the three he was just thinking about entering the lower lab. Tharius turned to the three to see Riz was covered in ice cream and Dib had bags in his hands. "I do hope those are suitable clothes…I don't care if he is a teenager." Tharius said thoughtfully. "You're thinking about girls and their choice in clothing?" Dib said; eyebrows rose. The older cleared his throat and went to pick up the device he had thrown just a few minutes ago. "Even so, I will not have anyone dressing like that in this base as long as they live with me." He said.

At the mention of this Zim's face scrunched up in pure disgust, dressed like a female? Yuck. Especially these Earth females; exposed skin and almost to the point of showing the whole boob. It disgusted him to no end but it wasn't like he was into females anyway…no they scared him. He used to go out with a girl when he lived back on Irk but she was such a beast to him. Zim couldn't remember what he had done wrong but he knew she wasn't exactly the nicest person. "You don't have to worry Zim picked out all this clothes…and Riz helped him…" The human said.

"That doesn't sound promising." Tharius said.

"You can check if you want, I'm not lugging those bags around anymore." Dib replied.

"There you go making my job harder." Tharius said.

"You didn't have to save me back then." Dib replied.

Zim looked from Tharius to Dib; what was the human talking about and what was going on. He had wondered a lot of stuff, gone into his mind a lot ever since he had lost the use of his voice. Tharius shook his head and went to go pick up a small device where it had been thrown earlier. The smaller Irken watched as Dib and Tharius had a staring match for which Dib won. Tallest Green wasn't acting like an Irken would at all; an Irken wouldn't stand down or break a stare first. No normal Irken would let a human into their home unharmed or wear human clothing.

He needed to ask Tharius why he had left Irk all those years ago…had it been his fault back then. Zim had accidently killed Miyuki and Spork but what grief had he caused Tallest Green back then? Thinking about this made his head hurt; he didn't want to think about his past back on Irk. "Four against one is hardly fair…besides, one had a menacing looking gun." Tharius said. Dib rolled his eyes; he wished Tharius hadn't brought that up but he had been asking for it. "And don't go thinking I only saved you because I was employed under your father at the time." Tharius said.

"Yeah I know…well, I'm heading home." Dib said.

"Not so fast, I need you to babysit Zim and Riz." Tharius replied.

"A date, the great Tharius is actually going out with a human?" Dib asked.

"If you must know she works at the school."

"Is it Mrs. France?" Dib asked.

"Oh no…she may be beautiful but she doesn't have brains."

"I give up."

"Agatha Bitters if you must know." Tharius replied.

Zim could have sworn he saw Dib's eyes grow very large at the mention of this Bitter woman. He watched as the human's face turned into something of disgust but gave off a questioning air. "A date; with Mrs. Bitter, you have the whole school swooning over…" Dib couldn't finish that. He hadn't expected his teacher to have a date; much less with Mrs. Bitters of all people. "I guess your coming over to my house Zim, let's go Riz." Dib said and made his way to the entrance. He turned around and chuckled. "You two have a nice time on your date." Dib said leaving with Riz and Zim.


	4. Chapter 4

**Silent Irken chapter 4**

by *ZadZap

Gaz sat on the couch playing her Game Slave as the TV blared on with Mysterious Mysteries. She hated this show but it had become routine to end up watching it at this time every other night. The only problem was that her brother was an hour late now and his friend was over. She looked over to see the short haired blond mess with his phone while he waited for Dib. Grunting in annoyance, Gaz got up from her spot on the couch and put her game on pause for a bit. Her stupid brother was never late, maybe he had gotten injured or something more appealing.

"I'm going to kill him if he ever gets home." Gaz said making the blond look up from his phone. He gave a sigh and was glad that Gaz was not his little sister, what torture that would be. Xander kept his thoughts to himself and kept his mouth shut so he wouldn't face her wrath again. There was no way he would end up with his underwear mysteriously over his pants again. That had been a nightmare that he definitely didn't want to relive so he just stayed quiet with her. If he had known Dib was going be late coming home he wouldn't have bothered coming over.

Xander put his phone in his pocket and gave a silent wave to Gaz before the doorbell rang. He opened the door to see that Dib was standing there with an Irken standing next to him looking angry. "You sure do take your time getting home Dib…who's your friend there?" Xander asked. "He was injured and our teacher took him in, didn't seem too thrilled about it." Dib said. He ushered the Irken in and had him sit on the couch while Dib took his friend upstairs to talk to him. "So, I was exploring the woods the other day and I found that colony of Bigfoot." Xander said proudly.

Dib's eyes widened, they had been trying to find something on the Bigfoot for the longest time. They hadn't exactly succeeded due to not having the equipment to travel deeper in the woods. Xander had more still at surviving out doors than Dib did; he had lived outside lots of times. "Really, we should try to go out there and take pictures or something." Dib said excitedly. "So, is that the Irken that you and Mr. Green found beaten up yesterday after school?" He asked. "Yeah, he's been through so much before he got here." Dib said and turned his computer on.

The blond nodded. "Well, I have to get home or mom will freak; stay gassy!" Xander laughed. Dib shook his head and replied back with a stay gassy as well, it was a weird thing to say out loud. It had originally been frosty but the blond haired teen wanted something different one day. Dib sighed and took his laptop out of the closet and set it on his bed before going to get Zim. He walked down the stairs to see Zim giving his sister a freaked out look making him laugh. Her icy glares could make even an Irken scared…somehow that didn't surprise Dib in the least.

"Zim, I got something you can use to communicate with me instead of using pen and paper. It should be more convenient for the trees and you seeing as the keyboard has got Irken letter. Also, it speaks out loud every word that you have typed individually." Dib said as Zim followed. Once they reached Dib's room He opened the laptop to the right program and gave it to Zim. It had been a gift from Tharius when he had been working with the professor at one point. "You can go ahead and try it out if you want to or something." Dib said sitting on the foot of his bed.

Zim did as he was told and started typing madly on the laptop making it hard to talk for him. Finally after he stopped typing what he was trying to say the computer said what had been typed.

[Your sister unit is a very scare one…are you sure she is not Irken?] Zim had typed.

"There are times I wonder that." Dib replied.

[How long as Tallest Green been here on E-R-T-H] Zim's eye twitched…whatever it was called. Stupid planet that was hard to spell, hell if it had been on the roster for invading he would know it. He looked over to Dib who was stuck on the last word, it took a few seconds but he got it. "It's been a while, five years I think but he likes it here…despite the burning rain." Dib replied. The room became silent as Zim looked around the room at different posters littering the walls. There were a few posters with aliens on it that looked pretty old and another with Bigfoot.

It wasn't hard to guess what the teenager was into seeing as the proof was on all the walls. "So…who did that to your neck, Swollen Eyeballs or those tall leader guys?" Dib asked scaring Zim. The Irken looked at the human unsure if he wanted to share that; he would seem so weak. Sure he shared it with Tharius but he wasn't about to share it with his human babysitter unit. He couldn't believe the former tallest was making the human babysit him; he used to be an invader. Well, not a very good one but still he used to be an invader and shouldn't have to deal with this.

Zim was a teenager and could take care of himself; this whole situation annoyed him so much. Maybe Tharius didn't trust him but that was just plain preposterous seeing as he was trustworthy. Hesitantly he typed on the computer the answer to the Dib human's earlier question. [The Tallest were not very happy with me so they tortured me for entertainment.] Zim typed. His hand subconsciously traced the scar that was on his neck; he wished he was still able to talk. Hopefully Tharius could figure something out to help him talk without typing on a computer.

Don't get him wrong, Zim was grateful that Dib had thought to help him but he wanted to talk. He never knew how much he would miss talking till that ability had left him unable to communicate. Zim looked over to the human to see that he had a thoughtful expression on his face. There was also a dash of concern that was mixed in with the look which annoyed Zim greatly. He didn't want to be pitied for his problems; it didn't matter because he was going to talk again. In the mean time he could strike up a conversation with the human when he was board or something.

-With Tharius and Bitters-

Tharius pulled out the chair and waited for Agatha Bitters to take a seat before sitting as well. "Lets skip the formalities Tharius, you usually only ask me out to dinner when you want a favor of me. Except that one night where we had great sex together but that's not it," Mrs. Bitters said. The Irken shook his head and rolled his eyes; she always tried to embarrass him in public. It really didn't matter to him seeing as they had been good friends ever since he had first gotten here. There were times that he tried to embarrass her with little to no success in doing so.

"I and the Membrane boy went for a walk the other day-"

"Dib, what does the boy have to say now..." Bitters said in annoyance.

"If you would let me finish my sentence you old hag." Tharius said in a board tone.

"I'm listening scumbag."

"We were walking and there was an injured Irken…I was hoping you could enroll him."

Bitters rolled her eyes behind those thick glasses of hers and picked up the menu for choices. Every once in a while she would be asked to dinner by the Irken but it was never anything real major. She was now the principal of the Hi Skool and all enrolment went through her all the time. "Does he have documentation or his he an illegal like that Larxis fellow?" She asked. Mrs. Bitters took out a pad of paper from her purse; she needed all the info that Tharius could give. "Unfortunately he's an illegal…his leaders tortured and banished him." Tharius said thoughtfully.

The waiter came up to take their order and Tharius ordered a salad while Bitters a nice steak. He asked for a poop cola while she ordered the water, normally she wouldn't order that with him. At the mention of the steak Tharius's antenna twitched and rested his head in his hand. "Are you planning something old woman?" Tharius asked after the waiter left them. The older woman glanced up from her pad to look at Tharius; a look of mischief crossed the woman's face. "I'm just planning your doom like I usually do Tharius." Bitters said busying herself.

Tharius nodded his head; he wasn't exactly surprised with her response, it was a quirk of hers. It's what he liked about her; she almost reminded him of an Irken he once had his eye on at home. To bad she was as mad with power as Red and Purple were but still he could find another. Agatha Bitters was unlike any human he knew, and he knew quite a few people these days. She may seem pure evil but deep down she was the sweetest old woman you ever knew. It was too bad Agatha hid behind that angry exterior that everyone knew her to have for so long.

He would have pondered more into it but their food came and he was a little hungry.


	5. Chapter 5

**Silent Irken chapter 5**

by *ZadZap

It was morning; Dib found him self lying on the floor and sat up to see that Zim was sleeping. The Irken must have been extremely exhausted if he was sleeping on the bed, Irkens rarely sleep. It was either sleep or a recharge your PAK with these guys and Dib didn't have a charger. Hell, it wasn't like an Irken was even common here on Earth so chargers weren't sold here. Slowly, Dib stood up and whipped the sleep from his eyes before getting his glasses from the table. He opened his laptop and pushed the on switch before briefly leaving his bedroom.

He made a stop to the bathroom and lifted the seat as the need to evacuate his bladder arose. This had been a daily routine, wake up at six and take piss before going to the kitchen for water. Dib would have to check the fridge for some Poop Cola unless there's only one can left alone. She would kill him if he took the last can from the fridge…damn he hoped there was more. The teenager zipped up his pants once all his bladders contents was emptied into the toilet and flushed. He made his way down to the kitchen after washing his hands and looked inside the fridge.

Dib gave a sigh of relief seeing that there were a lot of Poop Cola cans still in the fridge for Gaz. At least he wouldn't have to deal with her punches for today…unless they had run out of cereal. With a sigh Dib took the soda and got himself some water deciding not the worry about it. If he got his ass handed to him then it wouldn't exactly be the first time he was beat up. She always found something to beat him up over so why not delay what would soon happen. He was about to make it back up to his room when the door bell rang and he turned, confused.

It was seven in the morning; he was sure everyone was still asleep at this time of the morning. Well, except for the people who had to go to work early on weekends; what a sad life that was. Dib put the soda and the glass of water on the counter before making his way to the front door. Opening the door he was met with a raven haired girl and dark makeup, she was Goth. "Dib," The girl said in a low voice as she just stayed standing in the doorway as if she was just waiting. "Tessa," Dib said and then went back to pick up the soda and glass of water to take to his room.

The girl walked in and closed the door behind her before following Dib up the stair to his room. "You're here for Gaz right, go wake her up then." Dib said and sat the soda on the computer desk. The girl known as Tessa leaned against the door as her eyes landed on the sleeping alien. She chuckled and walked into the room and sat in the spare chair on the other side. "I knew you were a closet xenophile but I didn't think you had the guts to-" He tossed a glare at her. "We didn't do anything…I was watching him for Mr. Leaf, he had a date last night." Dib defended.

"A date huh…doesn't it bother you that a teacher is getting more action than you Dib?" Tessa teased.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you Tessa." Dib said paying more attention to this laptop. He and Tessa had a history, they had gone out at one point but she got angry at him very easily. "You should be happy that a girl as hot as me even notices you exist Dib, among other things. Listen bud, most of those girls think you're a freak, I think you're attractive." She smiled. The larger headed boy shook his head as his eyes were still focused on his laptop and ignoring her. "Yeah, attractive enough to drug me and make me have sex with you unwillingly." Dib hissed.

Tessa arched her eyebrows and then started laughing; oh that night was so fun, for her at least. She got up and pulled the computer chair and Dib away from the table and was face to face. She put her hand on his cheek receiving an annoyed grunt from the male right in front of her. "I'll admit that it went a step further than intended…do you miss my body under yours?" She asked. Dib pushed her hand away from his face and pushed away from her still in his computer chair. "As a matter of fact…no, you turned me off girls; guess I have something to thank you for." Dib replied.

"Glad I could be of service." Tessa said and then left the room screaming for Gaz to wake up. Dib exhaled a breath that he hadn't realized that he had been holding, that woman was so evil. His thoughts were interrupted by the wiring sound that the sleeping Irken's PAK was making. That probably meant that he was about to wake up but he wasn't really sure about all that. He had never asked Tharius what the PAK did when you were about to awaken from your sleeping. Tharius didn't use his PAK anymore…said it was unnecessary for his life on earth and his organs.

The Irken rolled over, eyes half open and yawned before sitting up taking in his surroundings. He had forgotten that he had come home with the human until he turned over to see The Dib. The human looked over to him and handed him a Poop Cola which he took, he was so thirsty. Sleeping always did that to him; that's why he preferred charging his PAK to just plain sleeping. "Sorry if the screaming woke you up Zim…women are so annoying." Dib said as his sister appeared. She was completely dressed and hair was brushed, face with its usual scowl as she gathered her stuff.

"We're going to go out to the game store to get the new Vampire Piggy game." Gaz said to Dib. "Go ahead; just be home by dinner time." Dib said knowing that he was talking to deaf ears. She never listened to him but still he felt it was good to just remind her to be home on time. Gaz rolled her eyes and left with Tessa down the stairs and leaving right out the front door. "Guess we should get you back to Tharius…wonder if he has that devise to help you talk." Dib said. Dib brushed his hair and grabbed some clothes before deciding to use the bathroom to change.

He was sure that the Irken probably didn't want to see him strip and get naked in front of him. It would only be fair though seeing as he had seen said alien's cute little ass just the other day. God, did he just think that…man, maybe Tessa was right about him being a big Xenophile. He didn't find any of the girls or guys attractive but he did fine that Tharius was a little attractive. Course he was older than his dad and there was the fact that he was a teacher so that would be bad. Zim was even more attractive though…ok so he was a freaking Xenophile, so what.

Dib took off his pajamas and put a dark blue shirt on with a grey smiley face on the front of it. He pulled up his black skinny jeans and then put on his black trench coat; he loved that jacket. Once he was done he made his way back to his room to see that Zim had gotten dressed too. "Let's go see if Tharius is up and has something to help you speak yet." Dib said. Zim followed; he was hoping the human was correct in assuming that the former Tallest had succeeded. He was thankful to the human for letting him use the computer but he didn't want to use that his whole life.

The Irken didn't want to write on paper his whole life either and he couldn't do sign language. It didn't help that he only had three fingers on each hand which made sign language a little hard. Zim situated his fingerless gloves which Dib had taken the time to cut and stitch up for him. They were about to make it out of the house when thunder sounded that rain was coming. A curse was heard from the human as he began to search the closet for a useful umbrella. There was no way he was going to have the Irken get any further injuries when they had just healed him.

"Ah ha…oh, is that the only umbrella we have around here?" Dib asked pulling out a kid's umbrella. It had one of those Daisy dolls on it that had been around for fifty years, stupid girly dolls. His sister only used the umbrella once and it was torn up from just that one use; she hated it. "That's it…guess I'm taking dad's car…but I'm not legal to drive till next year though. Well, seeing as I almost look like my dad I could just borrow his goggles and his lab coat." He said. Zim wasn't sure what to think of the Dib human; he was talking to himself which was usually a scary sign.

"Good thing he leaves his spare keys with his spare license in a bottom drawer." Dib said leaving. He made his way to the basement door and opened it with a code that his dad didn't share. Admittedly he had a hidden camera aimed at the keypad just incase he would need to sneak in. there was never a reason until now; Dib didn't mind getting wet but it was like acid to Zim. The door swooshed open and Dib made his way down the stairs only to emerge five minutes later. He looked like a shorter version of his father only with a little more hair on his head than him.

Zim didn't know what to think about the sudden change of clothes but he hated the covered face. He rolled his eyes and made a motion for Dib telling him so they could hurry up and leave. Another crash of lightning came and his antenna backed down on his head and took a raincoat. He was aware of the effect that the rain had on his skin, the first day he was on earth was rainy. Oh how he hated rain with a passion, if only he could control the weather like those whether men. They were the lords of weather and he cursed them for making today rainy and acid like.

He made a growling noise as they made it to the car and he opened the door and sat in the seat. Dib got into the drivers seat and buckled his seat then started the car but it didn't leave. Zim looked over to see what was taking so long only to see that the human was giving him a look. He gave a shrug as if to ask what. "Seatbelt, one crash and you're going to fly out the window." Dib said. Zim shook his head and did as Dib had instructed, stupid human was annoying. Once Zim was buckled up dib left the driveway and started driving, luckily Tharius didn't live too far from him.

Unfortunately he wasn't watching the speed limit and sirens started blaring right behind him. The teenager gave an aggravated sigh and pulled over at the side of the road, this was just great. He sure hoped the disguise was convincing enough to fool the stupid police officer that he was his dad. He grabbed his father's driver's license and rolled down the window as the officer came. "Why Membrane, you know the speed limit, why are you speeding Prof?" He asked. Dib started to sweat. 'Talk like dad!' "For Real Science…have an important project." Dib said in a deep voice.

Wow, actually sounded like his father…he should try this more often.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a ticket anyway Professor…so how are the kids?" The Cop asked as he wrote the ticket.

Dib didn't know how to answer that, had he talked to this guy before or something…so screwed. He could just say what his father usually says but he didn't exactly like what his dad said. Ugh, he got himself in a pickle with this one, damn this cop…did he know he wasn't the Professor? "My son is just as insane as he usually is…he needs to study REAL SCIENCE!" Dib yelled. He could have sworn he heard an echo when he yelled real science…was that why his father yelled it? The rain was starting to soak the lab coat, he needed to hurry this up…stupid cop knew he wasn't Membrane.

The cop handed him the ticket and chuckled. "Oh just give him Time Sir." The Cop replied. He let them go and then got in his police car, there was something different about the Prof. He just couldn't place it but it sounded like he was coming down with a cold or something.

-With Tharius-

"Agatha, you are the devil." Tharius said from his spot hovering over the table finishing the device.

"Don't you know it, so where is Zim…I was hoping to have a look at the kid." Mrs. Bitters said.

"With Dib…at least I hope he still is…AH DAMN YOU TO THE PITS OF…" Tharius cleared his throat. "Excuse that outburst…I burnt my finger again." He stuck his finger in his mouth, god it hurt. Mrs. Bitters arched her eyebrows, normally he wasn't so accident prone but lately he was kind of off. Maybe it was the appearance of the smaller Irken that had him so tensed up lately. "What is your problem, last night you barely talked and now you're injuring yourself quite a lot." She asked. Tharius took his thumb out of his mouth and looked over to the older woman in front of him.

"I've told you already…this was the young scientist that Red and Purple framed for the deaths. Those two wanted him to create some little monster to help 'Improve' everything on Irk. Little did that kid know, that that they programmed the monster to go mad and Kill Miyuki and Spork. I blamed the boy for so long until I found out that Red and Purple were responsible. Agatha, you know me better than anyone; I've shared this with you before…" Tharius stopped. Bitters shook her head and walked over to him, he may be older than her but sometimes he was a big baby.

It was silent for a few minutes until Mrs. Bitters smacked him upside the head making him gasp. "You're being a little hard on yourself Tharius; the one that you banished is with you in your base. I'm sure he still thinks that he was the cause of that incident so you're going to tell him about it. You're going down that doomed path, talk to him and stop whining." Bitters said. Tharius was about to reply when the computer beeped that they had a visitor outside of his base. "Sir…it looks like Professor Membrane but he's too short to be Professor Membrane." The computer said.

Mrs. Bitters and Tharius looked at the screen to see that the Professor get out of the nice car. "What the devil is that boy up to…oh its raining." Tharius said when he noticed that it was raining. You didn't notice much of anything when you were underground in the lab just doing your thing. "Dib could have gotten in trouble if he hadn't of used the Professors coat." Bitters said. "I have to give the boy credit…although I am his former fourth grade teacher I find this amusing." Tharius looked from the screen to Mrs. Bitters and shook his head before going upstairs to meet Dib and Zim.

Riz sat on the couch watching the angry monkey show, it wasn't that interesting but she liked it. There was just nothing else to watch except the news because it was only eight in the morning. This meant there were only reruns and a bunch of news unless she watched Irken programming. Tharius had made sure to disconnect all connections to any other Irken transmissions. He made it possible for other races to contact him though…so there were still things to watch. Every once in a while she would watch this Vortian programming which was more of a soap opera.

She pushed pause when she heard a knock at the door, Dib and Zim must be outside waiting. She got up from the couch and went over to the door to open it just as Tharius and Bitters emerged. Riz let the two in only to see Dib wearing his father's white lab coat, which was way too big. Zim was in next with his raincoat dripping wet from the rain that was going on outside. Tharius took the raincoat from the smaller Irken ignoring the slight pain that used to hurt him severely. "Please explain to me why you're wearing your father's lab coat and driving his car." Tharius said.

"Yeah, well I couldn't just let Zim walk around in the rain." Dib replied taking the lab coat off. Bitters took the coat from him and went to put it on the rarely used kitchen table to clean later on. "I suppose your right, but you could have gotten in trouble for driving the car yourself Dib. You're a year away from sixteen; you could have called me to pick you up." Tharius said. The scythe haired teenager rolled his eyes before pointing at the older woman right beside the older Irken. "How many times have you said be like an Irken Dib, show some backbone and do what you want." Dib said.

The older Irken shook his head; the human had completely turned what he had said around. It was understandable seeing as it had been five years ago since he had said this stuff to the teenager. "That doesn't count for stealing your father's car just to get Zim back here." Tharius replied. "Although I have to admit, Dib had guts to dress up like the Professor." Bitters said. Dib gave the woman a confused look; the woman was never known to compliment anyone at all. "I'll instruct your father to love you less if he finds out." Ah, that's the Bitters he knew as a kid.

"You're a harsh principal Mrs. Bitters." Dib said.

Tharius cleared his throat to get their attention; luckily he had finished up the device for Zim. It took all night to get it up to his standards as technology that any proud Irken would ever use. "I've finished the device…now if the both of you wouldn't mind following me to the lab," He said. Both boys went wide eyed and instantly followed the older Irken into the fridge elevator. "I hope you had plenty of rest in between working on the voice device." Dib said to his teacher. "I had many naps; you can ask the computer…she watched me the whole time." Tharius replied.

"Don't bring me into this sir." The female voice said from the ceiling.

The older Irken smirked as he went to the table to put the small collar looking device in his hands. "Now, this will have to be worn at all times if you are to speak to any of us if you are wanting. Under no circumstances will you remove this because it sort of connects like a PAK in some way. No, it's not your source of life like that PAK but it connects to your vocal cords." He explained. Zim arched his non existent eyebrows at the former Tallest's explanation of the device. The whole thing sounded kind of painful but he guessed he could endure it so he could speak again.

He nodded and Tharius motioned for him to lie down on the table and strapped his arms down. "There will be pain, I'm strapping you down so that you don't try and thrash about during this. An Irken is born dead so it never feels the holes that are drilled into it before the PAK is installed. Dib, I want you to hold his hand…Agatha, you may leave if you so wish." Tharius explained. Zim had an unsure look on his face as Tharius explained all this stuff about how it would hurt. He was brave but he didn't think he could take being drilled in the neck like when he was just a smeet.

The younger Irken looked from Tharius to Dib who didn't seem to sure about all of this himself. At least he wasn't the only one who wasn't into the pain that would soon be inflicted upon him. The former Tallest pushed a button on the device and it started up as he got it closer to younger. He hated to cause the smaller Irken pain but he knew this would work for the smaller. He had in fact done this before for one of the elites that had a problem with a very bad lisp. Course that was a little smaller than this and helped shorten the elites tongue more than speech.

"Here we go…" Tharius said as the device connected to Zim's neck causing silent, breathy screams. "Is he going to be ok?" Dib asked as the smaller Irken slowly began to calm and tire. "Just let him rest…he should be ok with a few hours of rest a PAK charge." Tharius replied.


	6. Chapter 6

Tharius cleared his throat to get their attention; luckily he had finished up the device for Zim. It took all night to get it up to his standards as technology that any proud Irken would ever use. "I've finished the device…now if the both of you wouldn't mind following me to the lab," He said. Both boys went wide eyed and instantly followed the older Irken into the fridge elevator. "I hope you had plenty of rest in between working on the voice device." Dib said to his teacher. "I had many naps; you can ask the computer…she watched me the whole time." Tharius replied.

"Don't bring me into this sir." The female voice said from the ceiling.

The older Irken smirked as he went to the table to put the small collar looking device in his hands. "Now, this will have to be worn at all times if you are to speak to any of us if you are wanting. Under no circumstances will you remove this because it sort of connects like a PAK in some way. No, it's not your source of life like that PAK but it connects to your vocal cords." He explained. Zim arched his non existent eyebrows at the former Tallest's explanation of the device. The whole thing sounded kind of painful but he guessed he could endure it so he could speak again.

He nodded and Tharius motioned for him to lie down on the table and strapped his arms down. "There will be pain, I'm strapping you down so that you don't try and thrash about during this. An Irken is born dead so it never feels the holes that are drilled into it before the PAK is installed. Dib, I want you to hold his hand…Agatha, you may leave if you so wish." Tharius explained. Zim had an unsure look on his face as Tharius explained all this stuff about how it would hurt. He was brave but he didn't think he could take being drilled in the neck like when he was just a smeet.

The younger Irken looked from Tharius to Dib who didn't seem to sure about all of this himself. At least he wasn't the only one who wasn't into the pain that would soon be inflicted upon him. The former Tallest pushed a button on the device and it started up as he got it closer to younger. He hated to cause the smaller Irken pain but he knew this would work for the smaller. He had in fact done this before for one of the elites that had a problem with a very bad lisp. Course that was a little smaller than this and helped shorten the elites tongue more than speech.

"Here we go…" Tharius said as the device connected to Zim's neck causing silent, breathy screams. "Is he going to be ok?" Dib asked as the smaller Irken slowly began to calm and tire. "Just let him rest…he should be ok with a few hours of rest a PAK charge." Tharius replied.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_Zim stood at the back of the crowd as invaders were chosen to invade their respective planets. He wasn't supposed to be there and he knew this but he just wanted to try and prove himself. He pushed his way through the crowd not so quietly and probably knocked someone down twice. There was no way he would go back to being banished to that stink hole Foodcourtia forever. There was no way he would stand Sizz-Lor another second without ripping out his own Lekku. Once he made it to the front he yelled for everything to stop just as they announced it done._

Purple and Red were in shock as the smaller Irken made his way on stage next to Skoodge. The fatter Irken scooted away from the shorter about a few feet as to not be a part of the stares. As if on cue Tallest Red had this look of anger that was detectable to any Irken in the room now. This included Zim who was now unsure of why he even came here in the first place. All he wanted was to be forgiven for his accidental crimes and have invader status or something. "Zim, I thought we banished you to Foodcourtia…your not permitted to step foot outside there." Red yelled.

"I know sir…but please, I beg your forgiveness. I didn't mean to kill Mistress Miyuki and Tallest Spork."

"That doesn't change the fact that you did!" Purple yelled.

"Yes, your punishment is suitable…we'll have to send you back." Red replied.

Zim looked around franticly as cheers ripped through the whole crowd of him being punished. Red walked over to the smaller Irken and grabbed him by the collar of his ripped, greasy uniform. "My Tallest…please let me prove myself…I promise that I can invade a planet." Zim pleaded. "I don't think you get it Zim, you're banished and yet you come here thinking we welcome you. You think after all you have done that all of Irk will welcome you back with open arms." Red said. He tossed the younger on the floor over to Purple who chuckled at the others harshness.

"We will discuss your punishment after this meeting is over Zim." Red spat and faced them. He continued on with whatever was previously being dealt with as Purple took the smaller Irken. "I don't think you quite understand Zim, when one is banished they tend to stay." Purple said. The taller took the smaller into one of the many halls as the other just kept talking. Oh how Purple wanted to tear the smaller limb from limb but thought it best to wait for Red instead. Instead he backhanded the smaller making him hit his head on the wall with a not so friendly thud.

Purple was about to continue the assault until Red came up and brought Zim up to him roughly. "It disgusts me how you think you can just come back like you did Zim, punishment perhaps. We'll give you a slow death just like Miyuki and Spork had to suffer afterward!" Red yelled at him.

Zim awoke with a start and tried to move his arms which were restrained from earlier today. His first thought was that he was back at the Swollen Eyeballs but everything around him was Irken. Thoughts of what happened earlier flooded into him and he began to settle down little by little. Everything was still a little new to him but maybe he could test his voice out or something. His thoughts were interrupted by the elevator door opening to reveal Tharius and Dib who was curious. "Ah, you're awake…so good of you to join us, now I want you to say a phrase for me." Tharius said.

The former Tallest sure did get right down to business didn't he, no asking 'how are you'. Zim waited for the Taller to tell him what he wanted him to say as Dib sat in the big computer chair. "My mother melted mushrooms." Tharius said causing the smaller to arch his non existent eyebrows, that was the strangest thing he had ever heard in his life but he would say it. "M-my motor molds ma-shrooms…" Zim said noticing that it sounded a little different from Tharius. Maybe it was all those years without using his voice that was making him not sound right.

"Almost, it's obvious that you haven't used your voice in a while." Tharius replied thoughtfully. "It's no wonder he can't say it…that's a freaking tongue twister." Dib said from the computer. He kept his eyes on the older Irken who shook his head and then looked from Zim over to Dib. The human wasn't getting that Irkens preferred challenges and nothing to be easy. Sure, Zim had been though hell from what he could get out of the smaller but that didn't mean babying him. He shook his head and waved his hand before heading out. "If you want to baby him go ahead."

Zim grumbled as the Dib just sat there and made the chair go round and round soundlessly. Was the human being quite on purpose or could be thinking of something uncomplicated to say. The former Tallest had been on this planet for a while and this human should know about Irkens. They liked being challenged, trying to go a step beyond and proving they could do it. He gave a sigh and lay back on the table realizing his PAK was charging but he didn't see a timer. Just how long had he been out, there was no weak feeling but still he felt a little uncomfortable.

The smaller Irken brought his hand up to his neck to feel the device connected to his throat. It felt strange but at least he was able to speak after so many years of being unable to do so. "Stink Beast! Give me my PAK!" Zim said suddenly making the human jump at the sudden yell. He watched as the human got out of the computer chair and went over to the charging PAK. "For some reason I'm beginning to regret asking Tharius to help you with your voice." Dib said. He took the PAK off of the charger and walked back over to Zim, connecting the PAK to his back.

The alien smirked; it appeared as though he had gotten on the human's nerves or something. This could be fun, maybe he could push a few buttons before the former Tallest got onto him. "Is Zim's voice that annoying to the Dib-Monkey?" He asked feeling a lot better with his PAK. He would have to thank the human for helping him to put it on his back or something. No, that wasn't what he needed to do; annoying the Dib felt like a much better way of doing things. "What are those things on your face Dib-human?" Zim asked out of pure curiosity; Tharius wore them to.

"Their called glasses,"

"What is their primary function?" Zim asked.

"To help me see, otherwise things will be blurry." Dib replied taking his seat at the computer. It was evident to Dib that Zim was able to talk; he should apologize to Tharius when he got a chance. "HA! Your hyooman eyes are inferior to those of Irken eyes!" Zim said, smile on his face. Ha, what would the human say to that, would he burst out crying like the weakling he was? The smaller Irken looked over to Dib whose arms were crossed with a look of amusement. How dare he not cry in misery for being insulted by the mighty Zim who is more superior to him?

Without warning Zim took Dib's glasses and put them on which he decided was a bad idea. Everything was blurry and hard to see, this boy had very bad vision that needed to be fixed sometime. "Hey! Zim give my glasses…computer, can you grab my glasses from Zim?" Dib asked. A giggle was heard from above but nothing was happening as he took the glasses off his face. He made sure to run away from the Dib when he got too close and walked backwards to see. "Silly Dib-worm, you can't get your glasses from the mighty Zim!" Zim yelled once more.

-With Tharius-

"Sir…Zim is playing keep away with Dib's glasses." The Computer told the older Irken.

"Guess I should go down there and help Dib out then." Tharius replied getting off the couch. He made his way to the kitchen when the doorbell rang and then went over to answer the front door. The blond boy who always hung around Dib was standing at the doorstep looking annoyed. "Xander, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Tharius asked the teenager outside. "Dib isn't home and when he's not at home he's usually over here…so I came over here." Xander said. Tharius was about to reply when Riz jumped in between the two and pulled Xander inside.

"Zim took Dib's glasses and now they are playing in the lab." Riz said making the boy sit down.

"Oh…well, I can't stay long…hunting Bigfoot," Xander replied.

"You're taking Dib and Zim with you, the boy needs something to do." Tharius said.

Xander didn't know what to think about this; he and Dib had made prior arrangements earlier. Now they had to add one more person to their campout in the woods to find Bigfoot or something. At least they were taking their other friend Zack's tent which could hold five people at once. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have the young alien in on their mission to prove Bigfoot real. "I guess, as long as he isn't going to be a nuisance and cause trouble." Xander said from the couch. "Good, but remember to call me if something goes wrong…I don't want a repeat of last time." Tharius said.

"Sir, are you going to help Dib get his glasses back from Zim?" The computer asked from above. Tharius gave a sigh and motioned for the blond haired boy to follow him down to the labs. "What happened last time was that we were attacked by a bear…an escaped zoo bear." He defended. That year a bear had escaped from the city zoo and had taken refuge in the woods. They had all forgotten their cell phones and Mandy just stood there and laughed at their faces. It was embarrassing and they agreed to never speak of that event ever for the rest of their lives.

When they got down in the lab they saw Zim standing on top of the table while Dib stood there. The older Irken cleared his throat gaining Zim's attention and motioned for him to sit down. The shorter Irken did as he was instructed and gave the human his glasses back so he could see. "Dib, your friend is here to go Bigfoot hunting…your taking Zim with you." Tharius said. Zim and Dib looked from Tharius to each other and were about to protest but decided against it. Dib knew that once Tharius made up his mind on something that was it and you had no room to complain.

He had decided that it was the leader that was still deep inside him, a leader's words were final. Tharius was mad when you didn't listen to him and always listened when you said something. Apparently the other two were heartless; Dib had only heard a few stories along with Zim's own story. "Alright, I guess he can come…Xander, did you check the weather conditions?" Dib asked. "It's going to be great weather so we won't have to worry about Zim getting hurt." He replied. Dib nodded; at least Zim wouldn't have to worry about getting wet as long as he wore rain boots.

It had rained earlier in the morning and Zim's feet were just as sensitive as the rest of him was. "Well Zim, looks like I have to babysit you again." Dib said and Zim grumbled in annoyance. Why was Tharius making him do this, surely the former Tallest didn't think he would accept this offer. It wasn't like he had a choice in doing so anyway and he could annoy the Dib a while longer. The human was fun to tease, especially when it came to those things that helped him. "Ok, let's go then…Zack isn't going to wait out there all day and you don't want to keep Mandy waiting." Xander said.

The blond boy was right; Mandy was as bad as Gaz when it came being patient with someone. The only thing she had over Gaz was that she was friends with Death himself which was cool. The only thing that Dib didn't get was how she was friends with Billy and how she could stand him. He wasn't exactly the brightest person in school and it's a wonder he's a freshman. Dib followed Xander out of house with Zim trailing behind him a moment later with pink rain boots. The scythe haired boy rolled his eyes, what was with that Irken and the color pink anyway?

Zack was a year older than them, his red hair was short in the back and in the front it was long. His hair was spiked up pretty high but sometimes he just wore it in a ponytail not bothering it. When Dib got in the car he noticed that this just so happened to be one of Zack's lazy hair days. He never spiked his hair up when they were going out hunting for fear of getting it caught. That had happened before and his hair had been stuck in a branch for over three hours once. From then on he had decided that ponytails were better for hunting all things paranormal and otherwise.

Mandy was sitting in the passenger's seat wearing her long pink shirt and black shorts under it. Her hair was back in a ponytail since she changed her hair style back in the seventh grade. "Looks like the gangs all here…and a new kid, is this the guy you and Mr. Green rescued?" She asked. "Yeah, he's joining us in the hunt for Bigfoot; Tharius is making Dib babysit." Xander said. Dib's face turned a shade of pink and he rolled his eyes; they made it sound like Zim was a kid. "Zim does not need to be babysat like a little smeet." Zim grumbled from where he sat in the middle.

"Oh come on Zim, this should be fun." Dib said enthusiastically.

"As fun as Billy's nose boogers…" Mandy said from the front.

"I really didn't want to hear that Mandy." Zack said.

"That's gross." Xander said pulling out his laptop beside Dib.

Xander was a computer nerd and he usually wanted to get some computer time in beforehand. He was good at hacking and other computer related stuff but that skill wasn't very handy here. Dib had had a problem with his laptop at one point and had this virus that deleted half this stuff. He had decided to take it to Xander and they began talking about all these paranormal things. It only took the blond haired boy an hour to fix the problem and Dib was really surprised. His laptop was acting like it was new and most of the files had been replaced thanks to Xander's skills.

"Zack, you brought your cameras right?" He asked.

"Duh, I don't go anywhere without them these days." Zack replied.

"Filming people again?" Mandy asked.

"You fucking know it…well, my dad being weird at least." Zack responded and Dib chuckled a bit. Zack started the car and hit the gas but not too hard because he hated people speeding. The red head wasn't a speed demon and that was mainly because he had been in a wreck once. His parents had been fighting and his mother who had been driving didn't pay attention. They had gotten noticeably faster and Zack who was eleven at the time broke a few bones. He had sworn to never speed and get into fights while he was driving when he had passed and got his license.

His parents had gotten a divorce a month after the wreck since his dad apparently cheated. It didn't really matter to Zack seeing as his mom was a drunk and didn't appreciate his dad at all. Dib hadn't heard much about Zack's mom after that but he did know that his dad had turned gay. "You love who you love dude." Zack had said and shrugged it off when he found out. "Hey Dib, you got your stuff right? I can't be the only one bringing equipment." Zack asked Dib. "Yeah, I always carry my camera with me after I caught Bigfoot using the belt sander." Dib replied.

Zim was completely lost, what the hell was a Bigfoot and why was he using a belt sander thing? Oh well; he supposed he would find out what this creature was tonight, hopefully it wasn't dangerous. He thought about asking Dib what the creature they were talking about was but left it alone. There was no way he would ask the stupid human what the creature looked like anyway. Oh to Irk with it; he was beyond curious about what this Bigfoot looked like and if it was a foot. "Dib-human, what is this big foot you and your fellow Hyoomans keep talking about?" Zim asked in annoyance.

Xander typed in the words Bigfoot and then moved the laptop to where Zim could see it. Zim's eyes went wide, the image was of a huge hairy beast with oversized feet; very hideous looking. To be honest all Zim had imagined was a very huge foot connected to a very small person, not this. These humans were insane if they thought they were going to hunt this creature. "We go hunting for this guy every year and every time he eludes us and tricks us as he pleases to. Not tonight though, tonight we are prepared…Xander brought his dad's tranquilizer guns." Zack said.

"I've never been more thankful for my dad being a zookeeper." Xander said occupying himself. After thirty minutes of riding in the car Zack parked it and went out his door and over to Mandy's. He opened her door and let her out before going over to the trunk and pulling out a big bag. "Ok Zim, I'm going to assume that your race can lift heavy things…am I wrong?" He asked. Zim nodded before Zack threw the huge bag at him for the Irken to carry which was a little heavy. "This is the tent; I want you to help me set it up, I don't want any complaining." Zack said leaving no room for argument.

Zim did as he was told and helped Zack set up the tent which took only about thirty minutes. He found himself looking around to find Dib who he couldn't find anywhere until Mandy yelled at him. He was up a tree attaching something to one of the long branches, maybe it was the camera. He was very high up in the tree but not 'fall to your death' high…just so very high. As soon as the camera was connected to one of the branches Dib jumped down off the tree with grace. It was beautiful grace that usually only Irkens could have but this human had pulled it off rather well.

He noticed that it was getting dark out and that the night creatures were making their music. Zim was taken aback on how beautiful everything around him was but then shook his head. He was disgusted with how he was acting; he had lived on this dirt ball for far too long it seemed. The younger Irken was losing himself, there had to be a way he could keep his sanity. Maybe annoying the Dib-human again would help him keep his sanity…but he was probably angry. Normally the scythe haired boy talked nonstop but after getting his glasses back he didn't talk as much.

The smaller Irken's antenna twitched at the rustling of leaves which was very faint right now. It was getting closer but still stayed a distance away from the campsite which made him curious. Was this the Bigfoot they had been talking about just a few minutes ago in the transporter? There was low roar which only he had heard still; human ears weren't as superior either. How the hell were they supposed to hear anything with those side dishes on their heads anyway? He looked in the direction where the sound was coming from and couldn't see anything at all.

This was very peculiar, were they normally invisible to the naked eye like germs were at times? Zim decided to take refuge in the tree so he could get a better look and see where it was at. He leaned against one of the branches and watched for the creature to appear around somewhere. He had gone a bit higher than Dib had so he could see almost all the forest with his eyes. He was grateful that Irkens could see in the dark because it was getting darker every minute. He could see something rustling the bushes from farther down which made him wonder if it wasn't that.

Dib looked around a bit after he was done messing with putting the sleeping bags in the tent. He hadn't spotted Zim in his sweep of the ground which got him a little concerned about the Irken. Tharius had put him in charge of the smaller Irken once again and this time he had lost him. His thoughts were interrupted by the smaller Irken jumping down right in front of him. "There you are; where the heck did you disappear to anyway?" Dib asked and Zim pointed up. "You were all the way up there? How the hell…you could have…never mind." Dib said tiredly.

"Ok, let's get started people!" Zack said excitedly.


	7. Chapter 7

Dib started up his video camera and set it on night vision seeing as it was slowly beginning to darken. Occasionally he would hear a rustling in the some of the bushes from somewhere far off. He looked around to see everyone else was hearing the same thing, especially Zim and his antenna. The Irken looked like he was ready to attack something if it were to be threatening to him. He was perched on one of the lower branches that were hanging above the tent just barely. It looked like the branches were barely holding his weight even though he probably weighted under one hundred.

"Whatever is moving isn't exactly quiet about doing so." Mandy said walking over to Dib as he filmed. He had to agree, it hadn't exactly been quiet the last time they had gone out though. For one thing, the last time they had gone out and done this a bear decided to escape the zoo. "Yeah, just stay on your toes till we find out what's making that rustling noise." Dib said quietly. Dib's thoughts were interrupted by Zim who was talking in Irken but it was hard to tell. Unfortunately he wasn't able to make it out even though he could understand some Irken thanks to Tharius.

His thoughts were interrupted by Zack who handed him a small bag of onion flavored chips. Hesitantly, Dib took the chips unsure of whether Zack was tricking him or not; he does that. "The bag is full; eat it before the action starts…YO! Zim was it, you hungry kid?" Zack asked Zim. The Irken looked away from the direction he had been glaring at and then down to Zack. Dib thought the alien would refuse seeing as he tried his best to avoid being on the ground so far. He had thought right when he saw Zim climb up to a thicker branch and plant his skinny butt on it.

"Guess that's a no…ah well, maybe later." Zack said taking another camera and walking away. The scythe haired teenager watched his redheaded friend walk away before letting out a sigh. He looked up the tree to see the Irken was looking off in the same direction he had been before. There must have been something down there that he was seeing, their eyes were better. "Hey Xander, lets walk down that direction." Dib said to his friend who was busy typing away. The blond looked up to see what direction Dib was pointing and shutdown his laptop so he could follow.

"So, were stuck babysitting a teenage Irken while looking for Bigfoot and I ask why." Xander said.

"My guess is that Tharius probably has another date." Dib replied.

Xander stopped in his tracks at the mention of their teacher going on a date with another person. As long as he had known Tharius, there was one thing everyone knew about the Irken. He wasn't a people person and the only people he got along with were his students that were in class. "Whoa, did you say Tharius and the word date in the exact same sentence?" Xander asked. Dib stopped a few feet from his blond friend and remembered that he hadn't been in the loop yet. "Oh yeah, he's dating someone who works at the school and all that." Dib said scratching his head.

The blond headed teen's eyes widened, this was something he hadn't expected to hear about him. Hearing that their teacher was dating was one thing but another teacher from the school as well. "Dude, I thought Tharius was more of those 'I like loneliness' types." Xander said thoughtfully. "So which teacher is he dating?" Dib looked at Xander and chuckled; he knew the second he said who it was there would be violent gaging.

"Bitters," Dib said causing Xander to choke on some spit he had been about ready to be swallowed. "BITTERS," Xander yelled causing some of the many sleeping birds to flutter out of the trees. Dib quickly put his hand over Xander's mouth and motioned for him to be quiet for a second. When the blond nodded the scythe haired teenager took his hand away from his friend's mouth. "He's with Mrs. 'the universe is doomed' Bitters? You have got to be kidding me." He said quietly. "Well, I don't know if they are together but they did go out on a date last night." Dib replied with a sigh.

Xander was about to say something else when Dib hushed him as he was looking around the dark. It had gotten considerably quieter since Xander's little shout which was kind of freaking Dib out a bit. There were no crickets chirping and the many frogs that were usually noisy weren't as well. The only noises present were Zack and Mandy's footprints in the fallen crusty leaves on the ground. "We do this almost every year and this has never happened." Zack said as they got closer. Dib had to agree; the silence accompanied by Zim who was starting to act really weird freaked him out.

He looked over to Mandy who didn't seem effected by any of this; this was the first time she came. She had been a part of their little group for two years but had never come on missions with them. Normally she would say no and then just go hang out with Billy and the Grim Reaper afterward. He was about to address him when something very big and hairy walked out of the bushes. It was hard to see so Xander brought his flashlight up to see until something green pushed them down. In between Zim's growling they heard a few snorts as if whatever it was smelled the air around it.

Dib tried to move to get his video camera which was on its side but Zim was making it so difficult. Whatever had come out of the bushes was walking toward them and didn't sound like it was happy. Finally Zack, who was the closest to the camera picked it up and aimed it at the big creature. "This is our lucky day gentlemen, and gentlewoman…we have ourselves a Bigfoot." Zack said. He looked from the camera to Dib who was busy trying to get Zim off of him but was having no success. He rolled his eyes and looked back at the hairy beast that was walking toward them very slowly.

Finally Dib was able to push the Irken off of him and grab the other camera that was on the ground. "This will totally make it on Mysterious Mysteries." Dib said pushing the record button in excitement. "Fuck that show I think we should..." Zack didn't finish because the creature swiped at him. "Run! We should run and hopefully lose it." Zack yelled and the others followed him as he ran. Dib went to fetch the other camera from where it landed and just about got clawed if Zim didn't attack. Mandy grabbed Xander's tranquilizer and shot at the beast that was now getting into a fight with the Irken.

"Shit…" Dib cursed when the Bigfoot didn't stop attacking the smaller Irken and looked around him. He had to find something that could help him knock out the human like ape that was attacking Zim. Dib motioned for Mandy to shoot at him again as he found a huge rock that could definitely help. The blond girl did as she was instructed and got the beast in the neck making it roar in anger. It didn't take very long for the creature to fall on the ground unconscious with Zim under him. "Zim," Dib yelled running over to the Irken to get him from underneath the hairy human like ape person.

Bigfoot sure was heavy; he had to probably weigh almost four hundred pounds or more at least. Without warning the Bigfoot's hands came up and gave him a rather hard shove into a hard tree. His head hit the tree making him fall unconscious but before he did he thought he saw a green blur. Zack and the others ran over to their unconscious friend as Zim made his way over to him to. "Stupid humans…Zim had a feeling this was a bad idea." The Irken said getting up from his spot. There were a few light blue blood stains and tears in his shirt but they were barely noticeable right now.

"Admittedly, this was a stupid idea but now we have proof on Bigfoot." Zack said picking Dib up. Mandy helped him as Xander picked up the camera that had fallen out of Dib's hands when he fell. He was glad he had packed that extra first aid kit because you never knew what would happen.

-Morning-

Dib awoke with his head pounding and opened his eyes to see nothing but blurry images allover. He heard the distinct sound of typing on a laptop and located it to his lower left just near his feet. He brought his hand up to his head and grunted at the slight pain that came at the back of his head. It was all coming back to him, they had met Bigfoot last night and it didn't turn out good. Sitting up rather fast his he felt like he was in the middle of this really bad hangover from drinking. Eyes closed; he used his hand to search for his glasses which he guessed had been removed last night.

He was about to give up his search when his glasses were placed on his face in a sloppy fashion. The scythe haired boy looked up to see that Zim was standing over him, arms crossed like he's mad. "Stupid Hyooman, you could have gotten yourself killed by that hairy stink beast." Zim yelled at him. The Irken's yelling had awoken Mandy who threw her pillow in their direction hitting Zim. "Learn to be quiet in the mornings, people are trying to sleep moron." Mandy grumbled from her spot. At this the Irken grumbled and was about to talk back when Dib put his hand softly on the alien's arm.

"Let's not argue…its giving me a headache." Dib said looking around to see Zack wasn't there. "Where is Zack?" Xander closed his laptop and went over to his big headed friend to check his head. "He went into town to get something for breakfast; he'll be back in a few minutes." Xander replied. At the mention of breakfast Zim's squeedilyspooch growled signaling he was hungry. "In the mean time we should pack everything up and wait for him to get back with what he deems breakfast. Oh and I looked at the limited footage that you and Zack had shot…looks kind of cool." Mandy said.

"What about Bigfoot?" Dib asked.

"Disappeared sometime during the night…Zim and I went looking." Mandy said.

"No footprints left behind either." Xander said.

Their conversation was interrupted when the sound of a car pulling up entered their campsite. The door to said vehicle opened and closed then the sound of the trunk opening and closing came. "I brought breakfast…is that big headed dimwit up yet or do we need a hospital?" Zack asked outside. "What is it with everyone and saying my head is gigantic?" Dib asked standing up. He got out of the tent and walked over to the redhead who had a cigarette in his mouth that was unlit. "You know I love fucking with you, your head is fairly small in comparison to Reptar's head." Zack teased.

Once everyone was out of the tent he handed them each a donut but Zim didn't seem sure. Irken's had grown to know that certain treats were for the Tallest and no other Irken to eat them. Donuts were one of these treasures that no Irken besides the Tallest could divulge in back on irk. If he were still on Irk he would probably be killed for even looking at such tasty things as these. Course, here he wouldn't get in trouble for eating these…but what about the former Tallest here. This whole thing made him slightly uncomfortable, which Dib had instantly noticed his discomfort.

"Hey Zim, I know Irk has these intense rules and everything but here anyone can eat donuts. Here, try one…I'm sure you'll love it." Dib said taking a donut out of the box and holding it in front of him. The smaller Irken looked at the donut with a scowl on his face as he thought about what to do. The human hadn't steered him wrong so far and he could probably confess his crimes later. He quickly grabbed the donut from Dib's hand and took a slow and cautious bit out of the pastry. Instantly his mouth was filled with all these sugary and sweet flavors that made up the precious donut.

His antenna lay flat on his head and he had the cutest look on his face as he took another bite. It was like he was in heaven and he just didn't want to leave no matter how truly alive he really was. A sound came from his throat as he bit into the donut once again, pleasure written on his face. Oh Tallest, he knew now why these treats were for the Tallest mouth and their mouths only. There was no other word for what he was feeling right now but this donut was just so very good to him. "Zim has fallen in love with these nuts of dough…I MUST HAVE MORE!" Zim yelled after he finished.

Zack looked like he was about to burst out in laughter; he had never hear anyone eat like that. The redhead finished up his donut and went over to pack up the tent after taking out all the stuff. With everyone's help he got everything into the trunk and started the car once everyone got in. Mandy decided to sit in the middle between Zim and Dib while Xander took the passenger seat. "What are your plans for today Dib?" Mandy asked deciding to strike up conversation with Dib. "Probably go home and ignore my dad and try to steer clear of Gaz and Tessa." Dib replied.

"In other words, masturbate." Mandy said.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Dib asked caught off guard by Mandy's choice of words. This was one of their normal conversations; they were good friends for the past few years now. She didn't get along with Gaz very well; in fact they clashed so bad they couldn't be in the same room. "Dib, let's face the facts, you're a guy…a stinky, smelly guy." Mandy said and Zim laughed. Dib rolled his eyes and put his arm around Mandy to where his armpit was near her small nose. "Have I mentioned how much I hate you Dib Membrane?" Mandy said struggling to get out of his grip.

-With Tharius-

The tall Irken sat up and took the covers off to reveal him in a white shirt and dark blue boxers. He gave a yawn and got out of bed and straight into the bathroom, closed and locked the door. If he hadn't of done that Riz would have walked in on him even though she didn't use restrooms. That's what he got for developing a personality chip for the little defective SIR Unit though. "Sir, you have an incoming transmission from someone named Lardnar." The computer said from the ceiling. Grumbling Tharius finished what he was doing and walked out of the bathroom to the big TV.

He pushed the button to accept the call only to be met with a Vortian which he hadn't expected. The Vortian was sort of familiar to him seeing as they had once tried to fight the Massive once. He had heard about it from a few aliens who had come to Earth so they could fix their broken ship. "Why is the leader of the Resisty calling me so early in the morning?" Tharius asked tiredly. This was embarrassing; he wasn't exactly dressed for a face to face meeting with the Resisty. "Ah, sorry to bother you former Tallest Green but we were wondering if you would like to join the Resisty." Lardnar said.

Tharius widened his eyes in surprise; today was just full of unexpected surprises, this was one. "You are aware I'm an Irken and that I could have instantly turned you in to the armada correct? No offence Lardnar, I admire what you're trying to do but employing and Irken…" Tharius scolded. The Vortian scoffed and shook his head and chuckled at Thariuse's little warning on Irkens. "I'm well aware of the dangers of talking to an Irken about joining the Resisty." The Vortian replied. "Irkens could turn against you at a moment's notice but Defective Irkens would have reason to join."

"I'm afraid there aren't many of those Lardnar, give me time to think." Tharius said thoughtfully.

"Very well, we'll be reaching Earth in a week…till then think about your answer." Lardnar replied. The screen went blank and the tall Irken took a seat on the couch across from the huge screen. "Will you join them?" Riz asked from where she stood at the kitchen entrance, curious expression. He looked at her and motioned for her to sit next to him as he decided to lie on the couch. "I'm thinking about it but I'm just not sure I should. Do you think I should join Riz?" He asked her. The SIR unit lay into his chest and stayed quiet; she didn't care because it was his decision for one thing.

His thoughts were interrupted when Zim opened the door and closed it quietly seeing the couch. Tharius sat up and held Riz so she wouldn't fall off of him and looked at Zim whose clothing had tears. "I assume you had a great night of hunting Bigfoot?" Tharius asked as he got off the couch. He made his way to the kitchen and took out a pan and got some eggs out of the fridge. "I have to admit that I didn't like it at first but it sort interesting…" Zim admitted to the former Tallest. "Earth has grown on you then, the rain is deadly but you will learn to love Earth." Tharius replied.

Zim rolled his eyes and sat down; living with the former Tallest was going to get on his nerves. He looked at Riz who Tharius had let down on his way to the kitchen so he could get breakfast ready. She had walked over to him and stood just a few feet from him staring which creped him out. "Did you have a SIR Unit Zim?" Riz asked causing Zim's antenna to flatten against his head. Zim's SIR Unit had been made out of spare parts of other deactivated SIR Units back on Dirt. He had built it himself thanks to the help of Tak who wasn't all that thrilled with helping him do so.

"His name was Gir…hyperactive, disobedient, and caring…I can't say I treated him well." Zim said. How long had it been since he had hear that mechanical laugh and that impossible smile of his? He had been deactivated when Zim was sent to his own death out in the vacuums of space. It didn't matter anymore though because now he could start over but no one could replace Gir. That SIR Unit was one of a kind and defective like Zim himself was; he missed the robot so much. Riz put her robotic hand on Zim's knee as if to comfort him like she knew he was sad about his SIR Unit.

-Somewhere in space-

The ship was dark except for the occasional blue sparks as if something were being fixed. The person's face was covered by a welding mask as he held the welder to the hunk of metal on the table. Once the person was done with what he was doing he took the mask off to reveal that he was Irken. "He still doesn't look like he's good and we reach Earth soon." He said. His antenna wilted and walked away from the table and out of the room to the hall which led to the main room. "Skoodge, how goes fixing the trashed SIR Unit?" Lardnar asked the short teenaged Irken.

"I still need to fix his eyes and a few other things but I should be done soon." Skoodge replied.

"What's the point, Zim is probably long dead anyway." Tak said.

"Don't say that Tak…Zim is still alive, I can just feel it! Have faith." Skoodge argued.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day at school Zack pulled into the school parking lot only to be met by Tessa, oh joy. She was wearing all black and some dark makeup which he guessed made her look a little hot. If you squinted in the right light you could see the heartless bitch that hid behind all that stuff. The red head had come to the conclusion that she was quite possibly a witch of some sort. Why she was so hot for Dib he really didn't want to know but when Dib came into play things sucked. "Zack, I was hoping to run into you this morning; you're free to talk right?" Tessa asked walking over.

"As long as you don't used voodoo on me I think were fine." Zack said getting out of the car. He grabbed his backpack before shutting and locking his car door with the buttons on his keypad. She gave him a look that showed that she thought he was losing his mind and shook her head. They walked up to the building in complete silence until Tessa blocked the school entrance. "How was your little journey to find Bigfoot, did you succeed?" Tessa asked as he looked at her. He looked at her over the rim of his glasses and rolled his eyes; he would just give her something.

He thought about what he was going to say to her and it instantly came to him in mere seconds. "Yeah, we invited Mr. Green's nephew along and Dib and him had instant sparks…it was wild. They couldn't keep their hands off each other…fucked all night and we couldn't sleep." He said. Crap, now he was going to have to tell Dib about his little lie to Tessa, didn't help that Zim enrolled. "That's very interesting, but I wasn't asking how Dib was." Tessa said opening the door for him. Ah, fuck it…he would tell Dib about his lie anyway in case she decided to ask the big headed teenager.

Zack walked in without so much as a thank you and she let him know she wasn't pleased at all. She socked him rather hard in the shoulder causing him to cringe in pain, stupid witch woman. The red head made his way to his locker which was right next to his scythe haired friend, Dib. "Good morning, how are you Zack?" Dib asked, Zim standing next to him holding a few books. Tharius must have given them to him last night or this morning after arranging his schedule around. "Peachy; woke up, came here and I told Tessa you guys fucked." Zack said putting things in his locker.

The alien and Dib's eyes widened and they both blushed; at least Zack assumed Zim blushed. It was a dark blue tint and it was hard to figure out seeing as he had never seen Tharius do that. "That is disgusting; Zim would never participate in such things with a human!" Zim yelled at Zack. The red head just ignored the alien as he rambled on about something being wrong. He looked at Dib over the rim of his glasses which had replaced the sunglasses he had been wearing. "You say that now Zim but once you get a taste of human…you will never go back." Zack said and left.

The scythe haired teenager face palmed and directed Zim to the class that they were going to. They were about to enter class when Mrs. Bitters suddenly appeared in front of them like a ghost. "I see you're here Zim, I do hope you have a horrid first day of school." She said and left. Zim was a little confused about her greeting; usually one would say the opposite of that. The woman didn't act like any of the humans he had been introduced to by Dib earlier and she was weird. He would have asked Dib about it but he was still getting over what the Zack human had said earlier.

He followed Dib into the class but stopped when he saw a very familiar flaming orange head. Zim grabbed Dib's arm and pulled him out of the classroom as fast as he could without any notice. "What the heck Zim, we're going to be late for class if we don't get in and sit down." Dib said. He was about to rant some more when he noticed that the Irken had a scared look on his face. "You look like you just saw a ghost, what's bothering you?" Dib asked as Zim pulled him. "Swollen Eyeballs…Agent Rainbow Smiles…he's in that room…I…" Zim didn't know how to continue.

For some reason that name sounded familiar but then it hit him, Keef was Agent Rainbow Smiles. There had been multiple reasons to leave the Eyeballs but that was number two on his huge list. Keef annoyed the hell out of him and has this unhealthy crush on Dib for about a year or so. After he left the Agency Keef only bothered him for about three months and then it all stopped. There was never any reason given as to why he decided to stop pursuing Agent Moth-Man at all. Not that he cared at the time but still, it surprised him that Rainbow Smiles just stopped going for him.

Dib grabbed both Zim's arms and tried to calm the hyperventilating Irken down the best he could. "Listen to me Zim; I don't know much about your history with Rainbow Smiles like Tharius does. I mean you never did open up to me due to my little connection with the Swollen Eyeballs and stuff. You don't have to tell me now or tell me later; just tell me when you're ready." Dib said. He had to admit that he was very curious about what went on between the two of them at the Swollen Eyeballs. He put his arm around the Irken and they walked into the classroom as Dib told him not to look at Keef.

He sat Zim in the seat in front of his so he could keep an eye on him in case he would freak out. The scythe haired teen would every once in a while glance over to Keef who was very surprised. There was that look of lust in the red head's eyes that made Dib want to protect Zim even more. It felt like ages since class started till finally the bell rang for the students to get out of class. Dib quickly grabbed Zim's arm and ushered him out of the room and made their way to science class. Luckily Keef didn't have any more classes with Dib so they didn't have to deal with the freak anymore today.

They reached the science class which Tharius taught and opened the door, they were the first ones. Dib was always the first to class; why did he find that to be an accomplishment in its own way? The older Irken looked over to see that Dib and Zim had come in and finished up the work he had. "I don't think I like the look on your face Dib, that usually means trouble." Tharius said distracted. "Yeah well, it's an emergency…you were correct in assuming that the SE had mistreated Zim. You know Keef right, he joined SE a year after I did…anyway, Zim freaked when he saw him." Dib said.

Tharius looked from Dib to Zim, took his glasses off and set them on the grading book with a sigh. "Then you keep an eye on Zim and ask your friends to keep an eye on Keef." Tharius said thoughtfully. He knew Xander was good at hacking cameras and putting cameras where no one saw them at. Dib nodded and took his seat and Zim took the one next to him, the smaller Irken was distracted. Knowing that the person he had run away from just a few days ago was near scared him a bit. "I'll talk to Xander and Mandy; see what Zack thinks…in the meantime Zim sticks to me." Dib replied.

Zim hated this; he was showing weakness in front of this human and he didn't find that good at all. This stupid human thought he could protect him from that scary demon of a red head named Keef. Dib didn't know what he was dealing with, Keef wasn't exactly human and he hid it very well. Zim had tried to kill him multiple times for the past two years and he had won but he came back. Zim followed Dib to his seat and waited for class to start but it was still passing time. "Dib, I would like to ask something of you although you may reject the offer." Tharius said leaning back.

"What's that?" Dib asked.

"Well, you are the smartest kid in this class, aside from Dexter and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind tutoring." Tharius said.

"Sure, who would I be tutoring?" Dib inquired.

"Torque…I shouldn't say this seeing as I'm a teacher but he's as dumb as a box of rocks." Tharius replied.

"Are you insane…the guy tries to beat me up like three days out of the five." Dib complained. Why was Tharius trying to torture him instead of Dexter; who by the way is way smarter than he is. Their conversation was interrupted by a few of the students walking into the classroom rather noisily. Zita and Jessica were talking animatedly about some guy they thought was hot. Zita took her seat behind Dib and Jessica took the seat behind Zim, they didn't have assigned seats. Tharius thought that sitting with friends was better than near someone they didn't really like.

Normally Dib sat with Dexter even though they weren't exactly friends, he just knew Membrane. The guy was extremely smart but his sister was kind of dumb, although she had her moments. "Good morning Dib." Dexter said taking the seat on the other side of Dib seeing as Zim took his. The scythe haired boy looked over at the red headed teen with thick glasses and yawned. "Sup Dexter…how's the world of science treating you?" Dib asked leaning back in his chair to stretch. "As good as science always does, how's the paranormal treating you Dib?" Dexter inquired.

"Caught Bigfoot Saturday night, I have video footage and everything," Dib replied.

"Hmmm, I should like to see this video later." Dexter said.

"Sure thing, but we have to wait because my dad is home tonight." Dib said.

After the tardy bell rang class had officially started and all the kids were in the seats they wanted. Dib sighed when he felt something hit the back of his head and instantly knew it was just Torque. He was flicking tiny paper balls at him as Tharius was going on and on about something science like. He could tell that the Irken knew this was going on because his antenna would be twitching. This meant he was paying attention to any little sound that was there, even the mice in the ceiling. Tharius was going to have to do something if Dib was to be forced to tutor that asshole in his studies.

-Lunch-

"Luckily Tharius orders food from Vort," Dib said giving Zim a lunch bag and sitting with Mandy. Zim sat next to Dib, his mouth was watering after hearing about food from Vort, and it had been so long. He would tear the bag apart and eat whatever Vortian treat was in there but he didn't want to be rude. Wait, it really didn't matter if he was rude or not; he was Zim and that's all there was to it. Zim ripped the bag to see that it held two wrapped Vort Dogs; his antenna twitched in happiness. The small Irken took a bite out of the tasty treat and started making noises that sounded like purring.

Oh by the Tallest, it tasted better than he had remembered them to be since being banished. He opened his eyes after finishing his Vort Dogs and saw that Dib and the others were looking his way. "He's made that noise twice now, if I were gay I would say that was cute but I'm not." Zack said. Cute, Zim was not cute and he most definitely would prefer that he not be referred as such. He looked over to Dib who was taking a bite out of his pizza and typing a few things on his computer thing. The former Tallest had referred to it as a cell phone and that they could cause cancer or whatever.

These humans weren't as advanced as Irkens but he guessed he could live with the annoyances. The only smart one that he knew of by far was Dib; he could be considered an equal to the Mighty Zim. What the Irk was he saying, a human as his equal…that was as laughable as a stupid Vortian Clown. His thoughts were interrupted by Zack who had just finished what was on his tray. "Hey Dib, would you date Dexter if he was gay?" Zack asked causing the Scythe haired teen to spit take. "He's not my type, I prefer a guy who's into the same thing as me but kind of different." Dib replied.

"There's a rumor going around that Dexter is dating some scientist." Xander said.

"Wow, hey Dib…do you think he's dating your dad?" Zack asked.

"The heck is wrong with you! My dad isn't gay and he wouldn't date a high school student." Dib laughed.

Zack shrugged; he had to admit it would be a little weird for Membrane to be into other men. Besides, the Professor was currently dating some woman from the lab who had started there a year ago. She was forcing him to take more time off work than he had when Dib and Gaze's mom died. He showed a little more support for Dib's beliefs but still tried to get him into science. "Your right, your father isn't into kids, it was a stupid suggestion…but plausible if you think about it." He said. Mandy and Zim lifted their eyebrows and then looked over to Dib who just shook his head.

"That would make Dib's father a child molester." Xander said putting his tray of food on the table. He hadn't been anywhere near the table while they were talking but he had these hidden microphones. At least that's what everyone thinks but he left his laptop at the table and had headphones. Dib cleared his throat to get everyone's attention away from the computer hacker. "Guys, I have something to discuss that's not related to your nasty assumptions of the great Professor. We haven't heard the whole story but I do know that Zim was held captive by the SE agents." Dib said.

Zack's pizza hung out of his mouth with his eyes wide; that was the place he told Din to leave. Agency's bent on bringing about the truth of possible mythical creatures and otherwise was just no good. He sighed and motioned the scythe haired teen to continue with whatever he was getting at. Dib looked over to Zim to see that he wasn't all that happy with everything being repeated. He put his hand on the alien's shoulder as if to comfort him only to receive an annoyed glare. Once he explained everything to his friends Xander closed his laptop and cleared his throat.

"If I may interject, what makes you think we can protect him against the Swollen Eyeballs Dib? I mean sure, you joined when you turned nine; which is amazing mind you, but…he's SE property. Not only is he Swollen Eyeball property but you got Keef in the mix which leads me to this. I'm in, as you very well know Keef is creepy and has the hots for any guy-or alien-he sees." Zack nodded at what his geeky friend was saying, at first he wasn't going to help seeing as Keef was involved. Frankly the boy gave off an obsessed and freaky vibe which Zack wasn't a fan of in the least.

Their conversation was interrupted by Tessa who stood by Dib putting her hands on his shoulder. "I heard you guys are having Keef problems and I just wanted to say I can help you." Tessa said. The occupants at the table looked at each other, and then to Dib seeing as it was his choice. Before he could agree Tessa cleared her throat and put her other hand on Zim's shoulder. "But before I agree to help you out, I remember Zack saying that you guys are now an item." Tessa said. "Yes, they are an item!" Zack said with a smile causing Zim and Dib to glare at him in annoyance.

"Then Dib, I want you to kiss Zim." Tessa said.

"Uh, I would but Zim doesn't like showing his affection in public." Dib said and Zim nodded. There was no way he would kiss the glasses wearing Dib-worm just to get this woman to help defend him. The alien growled in annoyance, you don't just go around kissing someone whenever you like. To kiss someone was to swear that you would love them till the day you're deactivated. Did Irken law apply when you were a defect, your PAK was different and you were banished your whole life? Kissing was in there with mating and Zim just wasn't sure he wanted to mate with this human.

There were laws about interspecies relationships, only invaders were allowed to have all that. They could take one for a slave and if they wanted to, turn it into a sex slave and mate with it for life. Torture it and rape it if need be but still, mating was a special thing and to waste it on a human. Tharius could do it though; he was a former Tallest and it didn't matter what he did. Zim had to quit thinking of him as a Tallest, there was no point to it seeing as he had quit and fled. Grumbling, Zim took hold of the collar of Dib's shirt and hesitated a little before pulling his face closer.

Zim felt a spark in his PAK when their lips had touched, that only led him to one conclusion. It was said that if you had found the one that you were to spend your life with, your PAK sparked. This was an old tradition though; mating had been eliminated after Irkens couldn't produce right. The females were unable to produce Smeets any longer thus creating clones. This process worked fine only one out of one-hundred Irkens who were born, PAK's didn't work right. They were claimed as defective and were of no use to the empire as such so they were banished forever.

He let go of Dib's shirt and pushed the human away to see if the female human was satisfied. The woman was smiling as she took a seat between Dib and Mandy who wore a surprised expression. The table was silent for a few minutes; even the Dib was silent which annoyed Zim to no end. "I accept your offer to defend Zim from Keef, the boy creeps everyone out." She said. "It's like he's not human or something." Zack said eating the rest of his Pizza and then eating his brownie. "He's not human…far from human." Zim growled and clenched his fists tightly in absolute anger.

Without warning, Tessa walked away laughing like an evil person and into the hall to class. Zack snickered at Dib who seemed to be in shock about the kiss that he and Zim had just shared. That had been his first kiss and to say he was surprised was beyond what he could explain right now. Your first kiss was supposed to be shared with someone that you were in love with. Dib leaned back in his chair and shook his head; he guessed it didn't matter anymore seeing as it was stolen. He just couldn't believe it was an alien he had shared his first kiss with; aw hell…he can live with it.

-After School-

Tharius gathered his things and went straight to his car where Dib and Zim were waiting quietly. This wasn't normal for Dib seeing as he usually talked all the time, even when he was thinking. Dib sat in the backseat while Zim took the passenger seat as Tharius started the car and pulled out. "How was your first day at school Zim, I'm sure it's different from the academy." He asked. "It was different, everything is different here…I think I like it here my Tallest." Zim said and sighed. Tharius ignored the Tallest comment; he would have to train the younger Irken not to call him that.

"I assume Dib helped you and answered all the questions that you had today?" Tharius asked. "I helped and answered whatever question he has had today relating to school." Dib said thoughtfully. Thariuse's antenna twitched, something must have happened today to make Dib unusually quiet. The taller Irken stopped at one of the stop signs and tapped his fingers on the wheel. Dib was like a son to him and usually the boy told him everything when he struck a notion to do so. "Anything interesting happen today," Tharius asked as he started driving toward Dib's neighborhood.

"Zim and I…kissed." Dib said and Tharius gave a sigh as he parked right in front of Dib's house. To be honest, Tharius thought it was amusing; maybe Zim felt something for the scythe haired boy. "Sounds like you had an interesting day, guess I'll see you later tonight." He said as Dib got out. "Depends, I'll probably be avoiding my dad later so I might be coming over." Dib replied. After Dib went in Tharius pulled out of the driveway just as an explosion rang off in the far off distance. He got out of the car and took off down the road and out of the neighborhood to his house.

Once they got in the base Tharius closed the door and watched as Zim quietly sat on the couch. The older Irken put his hands in the pockets of his dress pants and walked over to the large TV. "Do you want to talk about what happened earlier today or are you just going to keep it?" He asked. Tharius cleared his throat and made his way over to the couch to sit next to the shorter. "Th-there was a spark when our lips met…but Irken law prohibits having mates that were not Irkens. A slave maybe but…" Zim didn't finish because Tharius motioned for him to be quiet for a few seconds.

Red and Purple must have really enforced and stressed that law if Zim was fretting badly on it. "I'm going to stress something right here and now Zim, as long as you are on Earth what I say goes. There will be no mention of the Armada, no mention of Tallest Red and Purple under this roof at all. If you have a question you will ask me or Dib and if you love, don't follow your PAK. If you follow that Irk forsaken PAK you won't get anywhere living here." Tharius said and got up. Zim had fallen silent again as he was processing what the former Tallest was enforcing as a rule.

The older Irken went to the lab, sat in the computer seat and sighed as he sat back in the chair. He would have to take Zim to Membrane Labs to replace his squeedilyspooch and PAK with organs. It would be easier because Zim still followed what his PAK said even as the defective Irken he is. Membrane was the one that operated on him before but Tharius doubted he would again. It was a very long process and your PAK was disconnected after finishing the process of organ switching. Tharius would have to call tomorrow to see if Membrane would be able to work on the younger Irken.

Tharius was suddenly feeling tired so he went back up to Base level on his way to his bedroom. He stopped at the entrance and leaned against the doorframe and told computer to build Zim's room. With a yawn the older Irken took of his clothes and switched to pajama pants and a blue T-shirt. He lies in the bed and within the next five minutes fell asleep almost instantly; man he was tired.


	9. Chapter 9

Dib walked up to the front door and took out his keys which consisted of a three different keys. He took the key with a skull on it and stuck it in the doorknob before twisting it to unlock the door. He opened it and saw that the light was on and his father was reading a book on the blue recliner. The Scythe haired teen took his backpack off and set it down on the wall across the stairs. With a sigh he took a seat on the couch which was next to the recliner that his father was sitting in. Dib took a glance at the book that his father was reading expecting it to be one of his science books.

He rolled his eyes when he saw that the book read 'Understanding your teen.' How amusing. Dib thought it was funny considering that their father had never really stayed home for very long. Ever since their dad met this woman at his work everything had sort of changed, but not in Dib's favor. He did come home more but Dib still got the lecture about studying real science and stuff. Course, his persistence had worn down for the past few months but Dib still kept his guard up. His thoughts were interrupted when his father smacked the book closed and looked over to the older teen.

"Son, now that your home I would like to talk." Professor Membrane said sitting up.

"If this is about me and science you can forget it…if you wanted that kind of son…" Dib quit talking.

"Dib, this has nothing to do with science or that boy Dexter." Professor Membrane replied tiredly. He was so tired of fighting with the boy about his interests; he had never noticed how it hurt before. The older man knew he had messed things up with his oldest child but he was trying to fix his mistakes. "I love you and your sister very much Dib and believe it or not I'm trying to change. Since your mother died we all drowned ourselves in out hobbies." Professor Membrane explained. Dib did not know what to say about all this; he had expected to get shit about real science again.

The teenager stayed quiet for a bit; he guessed it was true how they were wound up in hobbies. He could tell that his father was slowly changing and seeing that stupid book was almost laughable. Dib cleared his throat, this was probably going to be a bad idea but he needed to tell him sometime. "Dad…since we're talking and opening up, I have something I want to say." Dib said. The room had suddenly gotten hotter in Dib's opinion; he was nervous about finally telling his father. "Dibs' gay." Gaz said from her spot on the middle of the stairs; she looked over at Dib who seemed freaked.

Both men looked over at the younger woman and then at each other; Dib laughed nervously. His sister really had it out for him if she wouldn't let him reach his own demise all on his own, women. Sighing, Dib readied himself for the utter disappointment that would soon leave his father's mouth. The older man cleared his throat and crossed one leg over the other as Gaz entered. He had a feeling about his son's preference and he had no problem with it; he had a lesbian co-worker. "I have no problem with your interest in men, prior to your earlier thoughts I'm not heartless." Membrane said.

"It's not just that I'm gay dad…I'm also attracted to aliens." Dib replied looking at Gaz to their dad. She had decided to take a seat next to Dib instead of standing on the stairs; more comfortable. "Please tell me it isn't former scientist Tharius Green Leaf, insisted on quitting at Membrane Labs. He's an adult for crying out loud Dib, you should know better than to…" Gaz started laughing. Dib didn't know what to say to that; he hadn't expected his to instantly think of Tharius as a. "Yuck! No I'm not interested in a grown man…besides, he's sort of dating the principal." Dib defended.

Gaz instantly went back to playing her game; she knew her dad would not mind Dib being gay. "His name is Zim, Tessa saw them kissing at lunch." Gaz said as she punched some buttons on her game. Dib blushed; it had been Zack's fault that they had kissed, although it wasn't at all that bad a kiss. He might not have been Zim's first from what he could tell but Dib didn't mind that. "I would like to meet this Zim fellow someday, is he an Irken like Tharius is?" He asked Dib. "Yeah, Tharius wasn't exactly thrilled to see another Irken here but we had to help him." Dib explained.

Membrane nodded; of course Tharius wasn't thrilled about another of his kind staying on Earth. Membrane had heard about the reasons that Tharius left his home planet while they were working. He was soon brought out of his thoughts when he heard Dib's stomach make an audible growl of hunger. "Is anyone hungry for Pizza or something?" Membrane asked as silence filled the room. "I'm in the mood for Chinese to be honest…I know Gaz would prefer pizza." Dib said looking at Gaz. "Whatever, as long as I can get some Pizza from Bloaty's later." Gaz said turning her game off.

-With Tharius past/dream-

_A tall Irken woman stood out on the balcony of a tall building looking out to the cities of Irk. Her Red eyes seemed distant and seemingly angry but it was hard to tell with her most of the time. "Kelta, what are you doing out here my love?" Tharius said walking over to stand behind the female. He put his arms around her from behind and put his chin on her right shoulder. "Do you think I'm a horrible person Tharius?" The red eyed Irken said turning to look at her green eyed partner. "That's nonsense my darling; why are you asking such things?" Tharius asked cupping her face in his hands._

"My anger is getting the best of me again…I'm reverting to what I was when you found me. My PAK is defecting again Tharius…" Kelta said, tears forming in her eyes as he wiped them away. Kelta was known on Irk for her attitude and anger problems that Tharius usually made sure to watch. She had been left alone as a smeet and had grown up on the streets of the Irken city. At sixteen she was out stealing and ran into Tharius who wasn't a Tallest until he was in his twenties. Kelta wasn't exactly the most loved Irken; she struggled with her anger and would get into fights.

She looked into his eyes and then looked away; he was sporting a black eye from earlier. "All you need is for you PAK to be fixed; you know I can fix it like I have for twenty years." Tharius said. Kelta shook her head and put her arms around his shoulders and his went around her waist. "Your duty as a Tallest is more important than my PAK malfunction Tharius." She whispered. The hug was cut short and Tharius looked out at the night sky where various ships were flying about. "There are five of us, Spork and Miyuki can handle everything, its Red and Purple I'm worried about." He said.

Kelta laughed, Tharius was a very serious person when it came to his job and rarely joked around. She wiped her eyes of the tears that escaped her eyes and followed him as he went inside. "I'll be back in a few hours and I'll have the tools to fix your PAK up as good as new." Tharius said. She nodded and followed him in as he got ready for his trip on the Vortian's Massive ship. "Tell Miyuki I said hi and give Spork a kiss on the cheek as well." Kelta said trying to be serious. The green eyed Irken chuckled at that. "Spork would have me deactivated for sure." Tharius joked.

Tharius got all that he needed and kissed Kelta on the forehead before leaving for the Massive. Once he was there he looked around the almost empty cockpit to see many of the shorters. He smiled when he saw one of the shorters checking off a list of things and went over to him. "Yalk, hard at work as usual I see." Tharius said making the slightly smaller Irken look up. "Yes, everything is as it should be…nothing out of place, except you Tharius." Yalk said holding the list. "You should have been here an hour ago…Spork is in a foul mood and Miyuki is about to fall asleep." He exclaimed.

"I'm aware; I had a few problems at home that had to be taken care of." Tharius explained.

"Kelta hit you again didn't she? I don't see why you waste your time on that defective." Yalk said.

The taller Irken sighed, it was the same thing with everyone; no one knew why he stayed. The truth was that he loved her unconditionally ever since she had run into him; there was a spark. "She may be defective but she's a wonderful person when she isn't held captive by her PAK's mind. I fixed her PAK the other day and it looks like her life cycle is almost up as well." He said. Yalk nodded and put the clipboard on one of the table and sighed; he had helped fix that PAK a million times. It was getting harder and harder and harder to fix Kelta's PAK without damaging some circuits.

"I'm not surprised, a defectives PAK malfunctions and decreases their lifespan." Yalk sighed. There was nothing he could do; he had lost a loved one himself from a dysfunctional, defective PAK. A defective PAK was rare and after an Irken dies they make sure said Irken's PAK had no problems. Every once in a while a PAK gets through the cracks and is given to an un-expecting Irken. "I'm afraid nothing can be done this time My Tallest…the best thing to do is watch over your mate. Now, get in there with Miyuki and Spork…their discussing new invader territory." Yalk explained.

The green eyed Irken rolled his eyes; he hated discussing anything involving the invaders. He would prefer Irk to be a peaceful planet but he wasn't the first Tallest so he couldn't really do anything. The first ever Tallest had been a real power hungry mongrel back then in Tharius'es opinion. It had become a ritual to invade any planet within distance of Irk or any other Irken planets. He walked over to the entrance which automatically slid open to reveal Miyuki, Spork and the others. Red and Purple had a look of pure boredom on their faces which was sort of amusing to Tharius.

"Tallest Green, your late…I'm assuming it has something to do with your black eye." Miyuki said. Concern laced in her voice as she watched the green-eyed Irken take a seat next to Spork. His yellow eyes looked judgingly over the green-eyed Irken and shook his head in disappointment. "Kelta isn't fairing very well Miyuki; her PAK is malfunctioning once again." Tharius said tiredly. The female Irken got up from her seat on the other side of Spork and sat next to Tharius. She knew of his struggles with Kelta and her dysfunctional PAK since they were merely teenagers.

"She's a defective, why bother?" Red grumbled making Purple laugh.

"Silence you smeets!" Spork shouted at the young Red and Purple and then turned to Tharius. "Let's just get this meeting over with so these two can get back into their diapers." The older grumbled. Miyuki cleared her throat and tried not to laugh at the glares that Red and Purple were sending his way. "We were talking about some territory in the Milky Way galaxy before you entered. Spork thinks it would be a good idea and I'm not quite sure." Miyuki said crossing her arms. Tharius'es antenna came to attention at the mention of the Milky Way galaxy and then looked at Spork.

"That's too far, and at the risk of sounding like I care about invaders…we don't know how long a trip it is." Tharius responded.

"Tharius…"

"What?"

-Present-

"Sir," The computer's voice sounded from above making the older Irken wake from his sleep. He looked at the clock to see that he had only been sleeping for an hour, which was sleep enough. Tharius sighed; it was hard to believe it had been five years and six months since Kelta had died. The last he had seen her alive had been before his meeting with Miyuki and Spork that day. Her PAK had given out and he had been gone for more than ten minutes, which had been sad week. Miyuki forced him to take a couple of weeks off at a vacationing planet, which did him some good.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and got out of bed, then went into the living room quietly. Tharius felt a smile appear on his lips when he saw that Zim and Riz sitting together on the couch. They were watching some Vortian soap program that had been canceled and was just on reruns now. Tharius regretted feeling that Zim was just going to be a nuisance and cause trouble. The older Irken yawned and walked over to the couch and took a seat Next to Riz and watched TV. "Anything interesting happen while I took my nap," Tharius asked watching the female Vortian slap the male.

"The Resisty called but I let the computer take a message." Riz replied looking at her master. Oh yeah; he was going to have to get this place cleaned up for Lardnar's arrival, so much to get done. It was kind of late to do any work now though; once school was out tomorrow he would clean up. Have Zim and Dib take care of it while Riz cleaned the kitchen and did other things. "Might as well go down and call him back before he goes insane."

-With Zack-

Zack put dark goggles over his eyes and wiggled his cigarette on the left side of his mouth. He pulled the string to start up the lawnmower and then pushed it along in the jungle of tall grass. Well, it was that tall but it was as tall as spiked hair so it did need to be mowed and weeded a bit. He had told his dad that he would mow the lawn yesterday and finally got to it. He and his lover were out of town for a couple of days for their anniversary but Zack didn't pay attention. He had the music blaring in his headphones as he made his way, cutting down the grass in his path.

Once he got half the front yard done he took a seat on the front porch and drank some water. He watched as one of his neighbors took their Great Dane for a walk around the block three times. He took a puff of his cigarette and wiped the sweat from his brow that had gathered as he mowed. He was about to get back to it when he saw Tessa walking up his drive in normal clothes. Her face was void of the dark makeup that she usually wore at school; she was perplexing. "She's a mean one, Misses Witch~" Zack hummed as she got a little closer to and stopped a few feet away.

"You up for a little snooping," She asked, ignoring the slight change in the beloved Grinch song. "That all depends, will this involve naked women?" Zack asked putting out his finished cigarette. The dark haired woman lifted her eyebrow and crossed her arms; why was she asking Zack anyway? He was a pervert but he was good at detective work, probably since his dad was. "I don't think Keef counts as a woman but if we're lucky we will see him naked." Zack's eyes widened. His glasses slid down his nose and he pushed them back up before they fell off completely.

She had to be kidding right; he was not about to go spying on the resident creepy kid for Dib. No way in hell was he going anywhere near that red head and his probably creepy as hell house. But, this could give him a chance to figure out Zim's affiliations with Keef and the Swollen Eyeballs. "We need some supplies to go spying, Dib has some stuff." Zack suggested. He stood up and put the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, one was all he needed for the day anyway. "Dib's not home right now; the Professor took them out to eat tonight." Tessa said absentmindedly.

He was about to ask how she knew that but then remembered that she was friends with Gaz. That and she stalked Dib, not in creepy stalker way but in an 'I'm friends with Gaz' kind of way. He went over to the lawn mower and then looked back at Tessa as he contemplated spying on Keef. "Just let me finish mowing the lawn and we'll be going." Zack said and mowed more. All they needed to know was some information; they didn't have to go spy on the creepy kid. Then again, this was probably the only way to figure out why Zim was so scared of the red head.

Once he was finished with the other half of the lawn he went inside and Tessa followed after. She stood in the doorway of his bedroom as he took his shirt off to go and get a cleaner one. "Any special reason you're helping Dib out instead a fawning over him like you used to?" Zack asked. He was changing out of his black jeans and into some black loose fit shorts. "Well, for one thing, seeing Dib and Zim lock lips was kind of cute." Tessa said with a smile. "That and thinking of two guys making out and having sex turns you on." Zack replied when he finished dressing.

"Same with you and thinking of two women having sex," Tessa replied and left the door frame. She smiled when she heard an audible groan behind her meaning he was thinking about it. "Do you know where Keef even lives?" Zack asked exchanging his glasses for his black sunglasses. He followed her out of the house and made sure he had his keys before he locked the door. "Eh, followed him home at a safe distance." She replied as if it hadn't been a real big deal. "You followed him home…you followed Keef after school to his house?" She looked at him and laughed.

Zack rolled his eyes and opened the door to his car on the passenger side and let her get in. Tessa got in the car and Zack made his way to the other side so he could get in and drive. "Alright, let's be off." The keys were put in the transmission and the car rumbled to life almost instantly. The red head buckled his seatbelt and then looked over to the raven haired woman. He was not pulling out of the driveway till she buckled up; there were possibilities of endless wrecks. "Number one rule when driving with Zack…no seatbelt, no ride…I suggest you wear it." Zack told her.

The raven haired girl rolled her eyes and buckled the seatbelt, she shouldn't have bothered him. Most teens didn't care about seatbelts; some didn't even pay attention to the texting law. After some very annoying silence Zack pulled out of the driveway and made his way to Dib's house. "Why are you going to Dib's when we're trying to get to Keef's house?" Tessa asked. There was no answer except the radio which wasn't as loud as you would expect it to really be. "Binoculars, also…Dib has my video camera and he gave me a key." She sighed, it sounded reasonable.

After a few minutes they stopped in front of Dib's house, Membrane's car parked in the driveway. Zack instructed for her to stay in the car while he went inside, keys to the car in his pocket. As soon as he got to the front door he knocked for a few seconds before the door finally opened. "Sup Prof. I was wondering if Dib was available, I need to borrow something." He said. "Ho-ho, kids today and their slang, he's up in his room…Sup Prof…ho-ho." Zack raised an eyebrow. He made his way up the stairs and knocked on Dib's door, his room vaguely smelt like Chinese food.

The door opened to reveal Dib in his spaceship pajamas and eating out of an oriental food bowl. They must have gone out to eat earlier; he could almost smell pizza from Gaz's room. "So, I'm apparently going to spy on Keef with Tessa and I need your binoculars." Zack explained. "She enlisted you into this huh," Dib said putting the bowl on the desk and going to the closet. The scythe haired teenager pulled out a few things along the lines of some weird handcuffs. Was it just Zack or was he finding out that his friend might have some strange kinky side to him.

Zack picked up the cuffs when they fell to his feet and then took a seat in Dib's old computer chair. After a few minutes Dib pulled out some binoculars and turned around to see the cuffs. "Dude, you are one kinky bastard…I thought I fucking knew you but I'm stunned bro." Zack remarked. Dib rolled his eyes and pulled the cuffs from Zack's hand and set them down on the table. "They're alien sleeper cuffs; I got them while I was still with the SE." Dib explained. "So, it puts them to sleep…still kinky though…anyway, I'll take my camera and be on my way." Zack replied.

Dib rolled his eyes and gave Zack the camera that he was asking for and led him out the bedroom. The red head chuckled as he walked down the stairs and out the front door to his car. He could tell Tessa was losing her patience; she was drumming her fingers on the car door while waiting. He got back in the car and put the Binoculars and Camera in the seat between them. The car started and Tessa directed him to Keef's house which took almost an hour to get to. By then it was dark which wasn't all that big a deal, they could use the dark to spy on him much better.

He parked the car a block away from the house and got out, Tessa held the camera as they walked. "If Keef is what I think he is then Dib and Zim could be in serious danger." Tessa said. As they got to the house she pushed record and then stationed herself at the window to watch him. "That's what I was afraid of, what Zim had said earlier today at lunch concerned me a little bit. Why was he saying that Keef wasn't human and then it hit me; Keef is an alien to. The only thing is, I've looked in Tharius'es alien logs…these guys take slaves for sex…how did…" Tessa stopped.

"Hold it, hold it…sex slaves…what the hell are you talking about?" Zack interrupted.

"Keef isn't human, he's from a race of people who take on sex slaves…they have many names. Irkens call them Flerkians, Vortians call them Glinks, it all just leads…" Zack cleared his throat. "How the hell do you know all of this from just looking at him in the fucking window?" He asked. Tessa sighed in annoyance and pushed him in front of the window for him to see Keef. He looked like an octopus, tentacles present and everything, it was creeping the shit out of him. "He shouldn't be on Earth…my guess is that he found Zim and, well…" She trailed off and stood.

This was all the information she needed; there was no need to stay any longer with all this info. "This is just plain creepy…how you knew he was what the hell Keef is." Zack asked in annoyance. "I know because my race was victim to their ways, that's why I left my planet." She explained. Zack looked at her confused as she got up to go back to his car, her confidence was gone. He followed her with confusion written on his face, was she saying that she wasn't exactly human? "So, what planet are you from anyway?" Zack had to admit that he was a little curious.

"It was a planet near Vort, I can't remember then name since I left when I was just a baby. All I know was that some of the younger of my race were sent away…" Tessa said absentmindedly. "So you're an alien who's race has been enslaved…you don't even look like one." Zack replied. She stopped a few feet from the car and turned to him; she wasn't in the mood for this. She grabbed the necklace around her neck with the blue stone and removed it so he could see her. Her hair had been removed and her skin had turned a hot pink while her eyes had turned blue.

"Wow…" Zack was speechless.

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. They look to see Keef who was in his human for instead of that octopus looking form from earlier. "You guys really need to fix all your information…that Flerkian race is extinct…I'm Meekrobian. You guys are trespassing, but as long as you're here I have a message." Keef said. He looked a little annoyed with the interruption of whatever activity he had just been doing. "I want Dib to give Zim back or things will happen involving the Irken Empire." Keef threatened.

"Hold up, aren't Irk and Meekrob enemies or something?" Zack asked.

"More or less but let's just say the Tallest and I made a deal involving the defective." He said. "If they sent a worthless Irken to me then I wouldn't go and destroy their precious little empire. What I did to the Irken was my business…abuse, sex…whatever; he wasn't easy to break you know. Before he ran away I thought I had made great progress but he had had enough. All I want to feel is his body under my own once again." Keef said the last part with a dreamy look. "So, this is sort of a revenge for them taking over Meekrob…it's not working out so well." Tessa said.

"I would say not...we'll see what we can do Keef but I doubt Dib would step aside." Zack said. He grabbed Tessa's pink, four fingered hand and made his way to the car and drove Tessa home. This was not how he had expected his day to go and learning about her being an alien was crazy. He needed sleep if he was going to try and digest all of tonight's information. Besides that, school was tomorrow and he really needed his rest to deal with the day just ahead. "This turned out to be a pretty good night…Keef is an evil alien…what more could you ask for?" He said to himself.

-Resisty Ship-

Skoodge finished up with the little SIR Unit and then opened the hatch that was on his chest. Instantly its eyes went blue and it looked around the room with curious and vacant cyan eyes. "Where's my master…I want my master…" The SIR Unit whined causing Skoodge to sigh in irritation. Zim's SIR seemed more emotional than the normal run of the mill SIR Unit it seemed. No matter how many times he had asked Zim if he wanted it fixed the smaller Irken would say no. "We're going to the planet we had last seen his PAK signal but we don't know if he's alive." Skoodge said.

It made Skoodge mad just thinking about what the Tallest had done to Zim before he had left. Sure, Zim talked a lot and he was so full of himself that it was hard to get anything done with him. "No…my master, they hurt my master…we have to find my master…." Gir whined some more. Their conversation was interrupted when Lardnar entered, surprise was on his face. He obviously hadn't expected the SIR to be up and running seeing as how much damage it had received. "Did you get a hold of that friend you were talking about?" Skoodge asked ignoring Gir.

"He was out doing something, I told his computer to have him call me back." Lardnar replied. "I hadn't expected us to get close to Earth so soon." The computer beeped meaning he had a call. He debated with himself on whether or not to get it seeing as it was unknown that Tharius was alive. It would certainly be a surprise to Skoodge and the other Irkens on the ship. He knew Tharius wouldn't be all that glad to see a bunch of Irkens on the Ship…it was a stupid reason. He respected that the older Irken wanted to remain dead to the Irken world though so he'd answer later.

"Skoodge, why don't you go eat some lunch…I'll watch over the SIR Unit."

"Alright…but he's a little different from mine and Tak's."


	10. Chapter 10

Dib sat in the cafeteria as he waited for the bell tell them to go to class; his head lay in his arms. He had not been able to sleep after Zack called him back from his stakeout with Tessa last night. He had learned that Keef was not human but from an alien race, that was an enemy of Irkens. Not only that, but he had threatened the current Tallest into giving him one of their own to have. It pissed Dib off a great deal that those two jackasses had tossed the shorter Irken aside. It angered him even more that Keef had used him for his own little sickening pleasures.

He looked over to the entrance to see Zim walking his way with a pink T-shirt and blue jeans. As soon as the Irkens red eyes landed on the scythe haired teen, he made it over to him quick. The younger Irken took a seat next to Dib and noticed that he seemed to be worse for wear. For some very odd reason he was flattered that the Dib-human worried over him. Another part of him was annoyed with it; his PAK was telling him so many different things right now. "So…Zack and Tessa did some spying on Keef…not as well as I had hoped though." Dib said.

The teenager did not expect a reply, the Irken had gotten used to not being able to speak at all. The Irken's antenna wilted as he looked away from Dib to the permanent mustard stained table. "Hey Zim…I just want to tell you that I'll protect you from him no matter what, I won't hurt you. I won't use you like that bastard did…I don't tolerate that shit." Dib said; his head still down. Zim's eyes were wide as he listened to the human talk; his spooch did a flip as Dib went on. He had stayed up late last night contemplating on whether he should follow his PAK's feeling.

It did not help that this morning Tharius had mentioned something about not depending on PAKs. He could tell Tharius lived without his PAK and it would be interesting to sleep on his own back. His thoughts interrupted when he spotted Keef walk into the lunchroom, angry expression. The seat to Zim's right shifted making him jump and sigh in relief at whom he saw. Xander had taken up the seat right beside him and was currently fishing out his laptop from its case. "So, how are we going to do this?" The blonde-haired boy asked and Dib looked up as he thought about it.

"I'm going to leave it all up to Tharius; I still have some equipment though." Dib replied tiredly.

Once Xander set up his laptop, he clicked on the camera button and the lunchroom popped up. Zim, who had been watching him with the utmost curiosity, looked around for the secret camera. Dib's friends were strange, especially Xander who seemed to have hidden cameras. The blonde-haired person pushed another button and other camera screens popped up in an instant. One was right above their table making Zim look above to see nothing but the florescent lights. Irkens are advanced but this was much more advanced than any Irken tech.

The Irken tapped on the scythe haired boy's shoulder and showed him the image of them below. He then pointed to the ceiling and Dib chuckled; he wasn't as surprised about it as Zim was. "Oh yeah, Xander made those last year, I thought we got all of them last year." Dib explained. "You did…Mandy reinstalled them at the beginning of the school year." The blond said. He took a drink out of the can of Poop-Cola that was almost empty and went back to his computer. Zim's antenna twitched when the familiar scent of Keef wafted up behind to him making him tense up.

The red head took a seat by Dib who didn't look all that pleased that the boy was sitting there. "Dib, it seems that you and I are going to butt heads for a while until this thing is all solved. You are aware that you are in possession of my property; aren't you?" Keef asked; eyes narrowed. Zim grabbed Dib's arm, an Irken was never to show weakness but Keef just brought that out. "Keef, Zim wants you to leave, I suggest you do." Dib said putting his arm around Zim. Keef shook his head and chuckled at Dib's words. "I don't think so, you've taken my property." He said.

"Zim isn't property; he's a living being that belongs to no one." Dib defended as Zack walked in. Keef glared at Dib a bit before leaving the table as the bell rang for everyone to get ready for class. "That guy has problems…" Zack said as he walked with Zim and Dib to their lockers. Zim growled and stayed close to Dib as they made it to class since Keef was in their first class of the day. He sat next to Dib and waited for school to start even though he really was not interested in it. What did Tharius see in this educational facility anyway, it did not seem very important to Zim at all.

He guessed the former Tallest needed something to do with his time on earth but why this place? There were more interesting things on this planet from the looks of it, the former tallest was weird. Zim looked over at Dib and gave an almost invisible smile; he felt that he could trust the Dib. Maybe living on Earth with Tharius would not be very bad, especially with the human around. Living as a human might not actually be as bad as he thought at first.

After school Tharius waited by his car for Zim and Dib to come to the car before he took off for home. Once Zim and Dib were in the car he started the car and pulled out of the school parking lot. His watch went off and he looked at it to see that he was getting a call; he would have to see it later. There was no way he was answering a call while he was driving around on the road. Thankfully, it did not take very long until they reached the base and Riz opened the door for them to come in. "I'm going down to the lab, I have a missed call that I need to take care of." Tharius said.

Dib joined Riz on the couch and saw that she was watching some cartoon that was almost over. Zim sat next to the human; his antenna twitched as he looked over at Dib scooted over to him. He took the human's arm and put it over him and Dib looked at him seeming to be a little confused. Zim laid his head on the human's shoulder and sighed contently as they watched TV. Dib smiled and sat back as Riz turned the channel as the cartoon had ended.

Tharius went down to the lab, turned to the computer and told it to contact the Resisty ship. There was some ringing and then the Vortian he had been waiting for had finally answered the call. "Lardnar, sorry I didn't pick up but I was driving and that takes concentration." The Irken said. Lardnar nodded and leaned back in his chair. "That's fine, it seems were getting a little closer to Earth so I would suspect that we will be there in no time." The Vortian said looking at Tharius. The Irken nodded and sighed "Do you remember that Irken that destroyed half of Irk?" he asked.

Lardnar nodded "Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with us coming there." The Vortian said.

"It appears that Red and Purple got tired of him and decided to throw him into space…he's been held captive on Earth for a few years." Tharius said.

"No kidding…and you rescued him, the self-loathing Irken saved the destroyer?" Lardnar asked in amusement.

"Laugh if you must Lardnar; he was in a bad state." The tall Irken stated.

Lardnar gave another nod and sighed "Tharius, about a few months ago we came across a resistance. There was an Irken resistance, not many Irkens are in the resistance." Lardnar said after a bit. The taller looked at the screen and nodded in response, for some reason it didn't surprise him to hear about a small resistance of Irkens, it was insane to just be a small resistance but still. "What about you Lardnar? You're an Irken hater and yet you let these Irkens on the ship." Tharius teased. The Vortian shook his head. "Oh shut up. See you later." Lardnar said before the screen went blank.

The older Irken sighed and went back to the living room to see Dib and Zim were sitting on the couch. They were watching some movie that was on one of the movie channels and Riz was the one with the remote. Apparently she wasn't letting them watch what they wanted to watch, but that didn't matter right now though. "Turn the TV off; I need you both to help clean the base because we're getting visitors. I want this place spotless, we need to rake the yard of any leaves and dust off the sidewalk of any Dirt." He said. Dib stared at him funny before deciding to speak up "Dust off the sidewalk?" He asked as he got up.

"It's in my yard, therefore it belongs to me." Tharius stated.


	11. Chapter 11

An Irken with blue eyes sat upon a hill of green grass looking upon the citizens of Irk trying to find his target. His one antenna twitched as he found the extremely skinny Irken with very long antenna, his target. Rift readied his weapon and aimed it at the Irken, thankful that the city was not as crowded as it usually was. 'Thank the Almighty Tallest above' he thought as readied the laser, his middle finger on the trigger button. One of his eyes closed as he aimed at the very skinny Irken down in the town next to the nacho stand. His lone antenna twitched in excitement as he was slowly pulling the trigger readying him-self for the very moment.

His kill was just sitting there eating his nachos unaware that his life would soon be ending, this very day. A shorter Irken walked up beside the target to get some nachos as well, shielding him from his own doom. The blue-eyed Irken growled and put his laser down; his excitement over his target going to die replaced. Anger filled that spot and he had nothing; well he could kill the smaller Irken and then the skinny one, how fun. Rift chuckled and aimed the laser at the Irken that had gotten in his way and pulled the trigger. This time, making the Irken disintegrate and put his aim on the skinny Irken, which had not been paying attention and…

His PAK rang. "ARGH, FUCK YOU ALL," He yelled at the top of his lungs…no; spooch, Irkens had spooches.

Rift answered the call only to see that it was the Tallest, must have been really important for them to call. He rarely got calls from anyone, but that was because he worked for the Tallest anyway, he had for the past few years now. Ever since they had called him to torture the Irken defect Zim they had been happy with how he had gone and done his work. "What?" He asked; his voice held an annoyed tone which didn't faze the Red tallest in the least. "Rift, your services are needed yet again and this time you will come instead of taking a nap." The Red tallest said to him. Purple nodded; his mouth full of donuts as he did, crumbs falling from his mouth a few times too.

The blue eyed Irken rolled his eyes and sighed, obviously he had not choice in the matter with Red on him. "Yeah, I'll be there after I kill this guy." Rift sighed; he had no choice, they paid rather well when his services were needed. They probably needed him to rough up another Irken that had tried to steal from him or something…it happened a lot. "Good, we'll transport you to the massive in five minutes, be ready." Red said; the other nodded. The screen went blank and Rift picked his weapon back up as he looked for his target which had apparently disappeared. "Ugh…fuck it. This better be important or heads are going to roll, Tallest or not." Rift growled and put his weapon way.

There was no reason to stick around here for long since his target had vanished, today just really sucked. His antenna twitched as he sat there in complete silence trying to figure out why the Tallest were calling on him once more. Maybe someone pissed them off or hadn't given them the right amount of snacks and it pissed them off something fierce. Rift stood as he felt he was being pulled from his location and so found himself on the Massive. He stood before the Tallest who had a serious look upon their faces; it must have been something important for them to be serious. "So, what's the big thing you needed me for anyway?" Rift asked as he sat back in Red's lounging chair.

Purple rolled his eyes and finished with his donut before he finally decided to even think about speaking. "You remember that defect we had you beat and torture into submission a few years back Rift?" He asked; arms crossed. Rift looked at both Tallest and chuckled a little which turned into full out laughter, asking if he had remembered the defect was a very stupid question, of course he remembered the defective Irken; he was entertainment. Those screams from breaking his bones and cutting his skin were still fresh in his mind; it was something he had really missed. The small Irken was fun and after losing his plaything Rift had been extremely board for almost a few weeks or more.

"That's a stupid question. Of course I remember the defective twit. After you finished having fun with him you gave him to that Meekrob guy so his people wouldn't attack you."

Red rolled his eyes at Rift's words; the assassin never had manners when addressing them since they met him. It's not like it really mattered but still it would be great if he would at least show a little respect toward them sometimes. "Yes well, it appears he has escaped his master on Earth and he needs help getting the defect back. " Red told him. The blue eyed Irken nodded as he listened to the information that was being given to him at the moment. "And He's threatened the safety of the empire if he doesn't get the defect back." Rift finished as he sat back in the chair. "I'm in. Only because I liked torturing him, and I like cleaning up your messes." Rift said, a sigh escaping his mouth.

Red and Purple exchanged looks and looked back at Rift; he was going to get away with insulting them. It was normal for them to be insulted by the blue eyed Irken and they just ignored it half the time anyway since they were used to it. "I need a ship and I need my Sir unit, Blip; he's been out of commission for a few years but I fixed him up." Rift said. Red nodded and rolled his eyes at Rift's request, the robot had been in storage waiting to be activated. "Yes, the robot is waiting for you to get him, wasting space in the storage room since he is only activated by your voice." Red sighed. The blue eyed Irken rolled his eyes and shook his head at their stupidity. "The activation word is 'jelly bean.'"

The Tallest exchanged a look and Red shook his head. "Just take care of this for us." He sighed.

"I will." Rift stood and walked over to one of the elite's sitting at the controls. "Get a ship for me to use. I'm going to the storage room to activate Blip." He said and left through one of the doors leading to one of the ship's many halls. A smirk appeared on his face as he made his way down the long hallway, the storage room was at the end; he remembered. The last time he had been in this hall was when he had beaten the shit out of the little defect. He chuckled; this place had such good memories for him; he could almost hear the screams that had come from the small Irken. It was intoxicating and seeing the blood pour from his open wounds made him excited for more torture.

The blue eyed Irken shook his head and chuckled as he went farther into the hall and to the storage closet. There at the front was his Sir Unit, sleeping and waiting to be awakened; he had made this Sir Unit himself just a few years back. "Jelly bean." He muttered and the green eyed robot instantly came to life, it was a weird word to use but it worked. It was a word that no one would ever guess that he would ever use which is why he had picked it at first. When he said it around anyone they would laugh though but he really didn't mind as long as they shut up when he glared. Course the word was Blips favorite word and that was the other reason he had chosen the silly word.

"Blip, reporting for duty," Blip yelled.

"Blip, we are going on a mission to take care of some business…you remember the defect don't you?" Rift asked.

Blip nodded and rift smirked. "Good, let's get to our new ship."

-Earth. A few days later-

Dib sat on the couch as he watched Zim sleeping with the little robot he had just reunited a few days ago. He smiled as Zim's antenna twitched in his sleep; it was a very cute sight, especially when he nuzzled the little robot in his sleep. The Scythe haired teenager sighed and looked at the time; Tharius was down in the lab with the Resisty and other Irkens. His thoughts were interrupted when Zim suddenly sat up and looked over at Dib with a smile. "Hey, you must have been tired." Dib said and Zim nodded, not wanting to tell him what the dream was about that he had last night. He scooted over to him and laid his head on Dib's shoulder with a sigh and closed his eyes again.

His antenna twitched and he gave a sigh as he relaxed against the human; he made such a great pillow. "You shall be Zim's pillow from now on." The young Irken said making Dib chuckle and put his arm around Zim and kissed him. He guessed they were technically together seeing as they had kissed a few times and Dib had sworn to protect the Irken. "Guess I can live with that." Dib said as he rubbed the Irken's side, making the Irken purr a little. He trusted Dib, something inside him told him he could and he wouldn't go against that since for the first time in his life things were fine. He nuzzled Dib and wiggled his antenna happily as the human continued to rub his side.

"Why don't you two get out and take a walk?" Tharius said; he had just come up from the lab seconds ago. "You two need some fresh air and I'm sure you both don't want to be cooped up in here all day." Tharius continued on. Dib nodded and got up from the couch, pulling the younger Irken up with him. "Yeah, that's a good idea." Dib said.

Rift followed close behind, staying well hidden as he held a cloaking device that blended him to his surroundings. "Heh, there you are Zim. Soon you will be in my presence again and you will shiver as I cut into you." Rift chuckled. The thought of Zim screaming in pain, or anyone screaming in pain made him extremely happy, he needed to do this soon. There was no stopping him now; he had a plan and Irk be damned if anyone stopped his torture session. He would have to separate him from the human, hopefully that wasn't too hard, although torturing the human sounded fun. He could just tell Zim that it was his fault the human was getting hurt…that would hurt him a little more.

Rift followed them in silence as they reached the park and watched them walk along the very long path. He looked for something that could possibly knock the boys out, and then he thought about one of his weapons he had. A smirk appeared on his cloaked face as he pulled out a small device that made a high pitch noise that cause people to sleep. It was very helpful at times when he tried to go after someone that kept trying to run away from him. He turned the device on and set it on the ground before covering his antenna and watched as Zim and his human friend passed out. "That was pretty easy, wonder why I never used this thing before. Would have been a lot easier," He sighed.

-Somewhere-

Zim groaned and tried to move his arms but they were restrained behind his back; how did that happen? The last thing he remembered was walking in the park with Dib and then this loud noise coming to his antenna, making him sleepy. Now he was here and Dib was right beside him in the same situation, still asleep and unaware of their current situation. He tried to move his hands from their restraints but it was of no use, his hands were stuck in them. "Dib-human…" Zim scooted over to the human and nudged him, trying to get him to wake up and hoped he knew what to do. He continued to nudge the human till he started to stir and looked tiredly at Zim. "Zim, what," He tried to move.

"My arms are restrained…" Dib said as he tried to move his arms.

"Mine to…" Zim sighed; his antenna drooped on the back of his head as he looked down.

Dib gave up and sighed as Zim leaned against his shoulder, there was no way he could possibly get free. Their thoughts were interrupted when a door on the other side of the room popped open and a blue eyed Irken walked in slowly. "Ah geez, I hope I'm not interrupting your little thing here." He said as Zim's eyes widened; he remembered him for sure. "I'm glad you remember me Zim, I was hoping I wouldn't have to introduce myself to you." Dib gave the man a confused look and looked at Zim. Rift shook his head and chuckled. "Confused? I work for the Tallest." He said. "I was the one that did that pretty little job on Zim's neck." Rift walked over to Zim and touched his neck.

"Now that you got your voice back I would love to hear that scream all over again." Rift said.

"Don't you dare," Dib said angrily.

"Oh…ho-ho, someone doesn't want me to torture Zim…" Rift was about to strike Dib when Keef came in. "I would prefer it if you left Dib unscathed and shut his mouth, it would be much easier if his mouth were restrained." Keef said. The older Irken rolled his eyes as Keef held up some duct tape up to his face; he took it and taped Dib's mouth shut. Keef walked over to Zim and lightly ran his finger along the young Irken's antenna causing Zim to moan. He smiled and gripped the antenna pulling on it roughly, making Zim scream; an Irken's antenna were pretty sensitive things. Depending on the way you touch them, the feeling could be pleasurable or it could hurt the Irken badly.

"You shouldn't have run away Zim, now you will be punished." Keef said; he let the antenna go and let Rift have him.

His antenna was gripped harder by Rift, making him have to stand a little as his antenna was lifted up. The blue eyed Irken pulled out a small knife and brought it to the younger's antenna very slowly and made some very small cuts. He didn't go deep enough to sever the antenna, just deep enough that it hurt like any bad stabbing pain you knew. Zim screamed as that stabbing pain continued from tip to base, Rift wouldn't stop cutting his antenna. "This is good punishment, now you know what happens when you leave your master." Keef said as he watched them. He smirked as Zim's pain filled him with joy; it was good to see him suffer. "You will learn your lesson." He said.

"You can't escape…you are after all…my Irken." Keef continued.


	12. Chapter 12

An Irken with blue eyes sat upon a hill of green grass looking upon the citizens of Irk trying to find his target. His one antenna twitched as he found the extremely skinny Irken with very long antenna, his target. Rift readied his weapon and aimed it at the Irken, thankful that the city was not as crowded as it usually was. 'Thank the Almighty Tallest above' he thought as readied the laser, his middle finger on the trigger button. One of his eyes closed as he aimed at the very skinny Irken down in the town next to the nacho stand. His lone antenna twitched in excitement as he was slowly pulling the trigger readying him-self for the very moment.

His kill was just sitting there eating his nachos unaware that his life would soon be ending, this very day. A shorter Irken walked up beside the target to get some nachos as well, shielding him from his own doom. The blue-eyed Irken growled and put his laser down; his excitement over his target going to die replaced. Anger filled that spot and he had nothing; well he could kill the smaller Irken and then the skinny one, how fun. Rift chuckled and aimed the laser at the Irken that had gotten in his way and pulled the trigger. This time, making the Irken disintegrate and put his aim on the skinny Irken, which had not been paying attention and…

His PAK rang. "ARGH, FUCK YOU ALL," He yelled at the top of his lungs…no; spooch, Irkens had spooches.

Rift answered the call only to see that it was the Tallest, must have been really important for them to call. He rarely got calls from anyone, but that was because he worked for the Tallest anyway, he had for the past few years now. Ever since they had called him to torture the Irken defect Zim they had been happy with how he had gone and done his work. "What?" He asked; his voice held an annoyed tone which didn't faze the Red tallest in the least. "Rift, your services are needed yet again and this time you will come instead of taking a nap." The Red tallest said to him. Purple nodded; his mouth full of donuts as he did, crumbs falling from his mouth a few times too.

The blue eyed Irken rolled his eyes and sighed, obviously he had not choice in the matter with Red on him. "Yeah, I'll be there after I kill this guy." Rift sighed; he had no choice, they paid rather well when his services were needed. They probably needed him to rough up another Irken that had tried to steal from him or something…it happened a lot. "Good, we'll transport you to the massive in five minutes, be ready." Red said; the other nodded. The screen went blank and Rift picked his weapon back up as he looked for his target which had apparently disappeared. "Ugh…fuck it. This better be important or heads are going to roll, Tallest or not." Rift growled and put his weapon way.

There was no reason to stick around here for long since his target had vanished, today just really sucked. His antenna twitched as he sat there in complete silence trying to figure out why the Tallest were calling on him once more. Maybe someone pissed them off or hadn't given them the right amount of snacks and it pissed them off something fierce. Rift stood as he felt he was being pulled from his location and so found himself on the Massive. He stood before the Tallest who had a serious look upon their faces; it must have been something important for them to be serious. "So, what's the big thing you needed me for anyway?" Rift asked as he sat back in Red's lounging chair.

Purple rolled his eyes and finished with his donut before he finally decided to even think about speaking. "You remember that defect we had you beat and torture into submission a few years back Rift?" He asked; arms crossed. Rift looked at both Tallest and chuckled a little which turned into full out laughter, asking if he had remembered the defect was a very stupid question, of course he remembered the defective Irken; he was entertainment. Those screams from breaking his bones and cutting his skin were still fresh in his mind; it was something he had really missed. The small Irken was fun and after losing his plaything Rift had been extremely board for almost a few weeks or more.

"That's a stupid question. Of course I remember the defective twit. After you finished having fun with him you gave him to that Meekrob guy so his people wouldn't attack you."

Red rolled his eyes at Rift's words; the assassin never had manners when addressing them since they met him. It's not like it really mattered but still it would be great if he would at least show a little respect toward them sometimes. "Yes well, it appears he has escaped his master on Earth and he needs help getting the defect back. " Red told him. The blue eyed Irken nodded as he listened to the information that was being given to him at the moment. "And He's threatened the safety of the empire if he doesn't get the defect back." Rift finished as he sat back in the chair. "I'm in. Only because I liked torturing him, and I like cleaning up your messes." Rift said, a sigh escaping his mouth.

Red and Purple exchanged looks and looked back at Rift; he was going to get away with insulting them. It was normal for them to be insulted by the blue eyed Irken and they just ignored it half the time anyway since they were used to it. "I need a ship and I need my Sir unit, Blip; he's been out of commission for a few years but I fixed him up." Rift said. Red nodded and rolled his eyes at Rift's request, the robot had been in storage waiting to be activated. "Yes, the robot is waiting for you to get him, wasting space in the storage room since he is only activated by your voice." Red sighed. The blue eyed Irken rolled his eyes and shook his head at their stupidity. "The activation word is 'jelly bean.'"

The Tallest exchanged a look and Red shook his head. "Just take care of this for us." He sighed.

"I will." Rift stood and walked over to one of the elite's sitting at the controls. "Get a ship for me to use. I'm going to the storage room to activate Blip." He said and left through one of the doors leading to one of the ship's many halls. A smirk appeared on his face as he made his way down the long hallway, the storage room was at the end; he remembered. The last time he had been in this hall was when he had beaten the shit out of the little defect. He chuckled; this place had such good memories for him; he could almost hear the screams that had come from the small Irken. It was intoxicating and seeing the blood pour from his open wounds made him excited for more torture.

The blue eyed Irken shook his head and chuckled as he went farther into the hall and to the storage closet. There at the front was his Sir Unit, sleeping and waiting to be awakened; he had made this Sir Unit himself just a few years back. "Jelly bean." He muttered and the green eyed robot instantly came to life, it was a weird word to use but it worked. It was a word that no one would ever guess that he would ever use which is why he had picked it at first. When he said it around anyone they would laugh though but he really didn't mind as long as they shut up when he glared. Course the word was Blips favorite word and that was the other reason he had chosen the silly word.

"Blip, reporting for duty," Blip yelled.

"Blip, we are going on a mission to take care of some business…you remember the defect don't you?" Rift asked.

Blip nodded and rift smirked. "Good, let's get to our new ship."

-Earth. A few days later-

Dib sat on the couch as he watched Zim sleeping with the little robot he had just reunited a few days ago. He smiled as Zim's antenna twitched in his sleep; it was a very cute sight, especially when he nuzzled the little robot in his sleep. The Scythe haired teenager sighed and looked at the time; Tharius was down in the lab with the Resisty and other Irkens. His thoughts were interrupted when Zim suddenly sat up and looked over at Dib with a smile. "Hey, you must have been tired." Dib said and Zim nodded, not wanting to tell him what the dream was about that he had last night. He scooted over to him and laid his head on Dib's shoulder with a sigh and closed his eyes again.

His antenna twitched and he gave a sigh as he relaxed against the human; he made such a great pillow. "You shall be Zim's pillow from now on." The young Irken said making Dib chuckle and put his arm around Zim and kissed him. He guessed they were technically together seeing as they had kissed a few times and Dib had sworn to protect the Irken. "Guess I can live with that." Dib said as he rubbed the Irken's side, making the Irken purr a little. He trusted Dib, something inside him told him he could and he wouldn't go against that since for the first time in his life things were fine. He nuzzled Dib and wiggled his antenna happily as the human continued to rub his side.

"Why don't you two get out and take a walk?" Tharius said; he had just come up from the lab seconds ago. "You two need some fresh air and I'm sure you both don't want to be cooped up in here all day." Tharius continued on. Dib nodded and got up from the couch, pulling the younger Irken up with him. "Yeah, that's a good idea." Dib said.

Rift followed close behind, staying well hidden as he held a cloaking device that blended him to his surroundings. "Heh, there you are Zim. Soon you will be in my presence again and you will shiver as I cut into you." Rift chuckled. The thought of Zim screaming in pain, or anyone screaming in pain made him extremely happy, he needed to do this soon. There was no stopping him now; he had a plan and Irk be damned if anyone stopped his torture session. He would have to separate him from the human, hopefully that wasn't too hard, although torturing the human sounded fun. He could just tell Zim that it was his fault the human was getting hurt…that would hurt him a little more.

Rift followed them in silence as they reached the park and watched them walk along the very long path. He looked for something that could possibly knock the boys out, and then he thought about one of his weapons he had. A smirk appeared on his cloaked face as he pulled out a small device that made a high pitch noise that cause people to sleep. It was very helpful at times when he tried to go after someone that kept trying to run away from him. He turned the device on and set it on the ground before covering his antenna and watched as Zim and his human friend passed out. "That was pretty easy, wonder why I never used this thing before. Would have been a lot easier," He sighed.

-Somewhere-

Zim groaned and tried to move his arms but they were restrained behind his back; how did that happen? The last thing he remembered was walking in the park with Dib and then this loud noise coming to his antenna, making him sleepy. Now he was here and Dib was right beside him in the same situation, still asleep and unaware of their current situation. He tried to move his hands from their restraints but it was of no use, his hands were stuck in them. "Dib-human…" Zim scooted over to the human and nudged him, trying to get him to wake up and hoped he knew what to do. He continued to nudge the human till he started to stir and looked tiredly at Zim. "Zim, what," He tried to move.

"My arms are restrained…" Dib said as he tried to move his arms.

"Mine to…" Zim sighed; his antenna drooped on the back of his head as he looked down.

Dib gave up and sighed as Zim leaned against his shoulder, there was no way he could possibly get free. Their thoughts were interrupted when a door on the other side of the room popped open and a blue eyed Irken walked in slowly. "Ah geez, I hope I'm not interrupting your little thing here." He said as Zim's eyes widened; he remembered him for sure. "I'm glad you remember me Zim, I was hoping I wouldn't have to introduce myself to you." Dib gave the man a confused look and looked at Zim. Rift shook his head and chuckled. "Confused? I work for the Tallest." He said. "I was the one that did that pretty little job on Zim's neck." Rift walked over to Zim and touched his neck.

"Now that you got your voice back I would love to hear that scream all over again." Rift said.

"Don't you dare," Dib said angrily.

"Oh…ho-ho, someone doesn't want me to torture Zim…" Rift was about to strike Dib when Keef came in. "I would prefer it if you left Dib unscathed and shut his mouth, it would be much easier if his mouth were restrained." Keef said. The older Irken rolled his eyes as Keef held up some duct tape up to his face; he took it and taped Dib's mouth shut. Keef walked over to Zim and lightly ran his finger along the young Irken's antenna causing Zim to moan. He smiled and gripped the antenna pulling on it roughly, making Zim scream; an Irken's antenna were pretty sensitive things. Depending on the way you touch them, the feeling could be pleasurable or it could hurt the Irken badly.

"You shouldn't have run away Zim, now you will be punished." Keef said; he let the antenna go and let Rift have him.

His antenna was gripped harder by Rift, making him have to stand a little as his antenna was lifted up. The blue eyed Irken pulled out a small knife and brought it to the younger's antenna very slowly and made some very small cuts. He didn't go deep enough to sever the antenna, just deep enough that it hurt like any bad stabbing pain you knew. Zim screamed as that stabbing pain continued from tip to base, Rift wouldn't stop cutting his antenna. "This is good punishment, now you know what happens when you leave your master." Keef said as he watched them. He smirked as Zim's pain filled him with joy; it was good to see him suffer. "You will learn your lesson." He said.

"You can't escape…you are after all…my Irken." Keef continued.


	13. Chapter 13

The room was dark, with the faint light from a lamp beside a bed with two figures in the middle of it. Keef kissed down the back of Zim's neck and licked slowly, enjoying the fear radiating off of the Irken. The Irken was in his lap, arms tied tightly so he wouldn't break free and attack the red head or anything. His hands traveled down to Zim's thighs and started rubbing the inside, close to his slit. His tongue trailed up and down Zim's neck for a while and rested his teeth on the Irken's neck. Zim closed his eyes; he hated this part, it meant Keef was marking him as his property to do with as he pleased.

Keef's teeth sunk into Zim's neck without warning and the young Irken let out a silent, breathy scream. His voice collar had been removed and was now sitting on the table beside the bed so Keef could mark him. The process was painful, especially when one inserted their teeth into your neck and made you bleed till you weak. Blue blood dripped down the Irken's neck, some being lapped up by the Meekrobian's tongue. One of his hands traveled to Zim's antenna, gripping them and pulling at them, giving him more access. Tears escaped the Irken's eyes as he silently cried over the pain and the fact he was in Keef's arms again.

The Meekrob's hand reverted to his original form, which was full of energy and began entering Zim's slit. Zim panted as pleasure coursed through him, the energy that Keef sent through him was very painful experience. His whole hand never ceased the motion, going at a very fast pace and going as deep as his fist was able to go. More silent screams continued to leave Zim's mouth as Keef continued. His hand continued as he moved to where Zim was under him as he released Zim's neck, Keef's tongue entered Zim's open mouth. His long tongue wrapped around Zim's tightly and brought it into his own mouth, sucking on it and biting.

Zim whimpered as he was forced to kiss Keef and take the punishment handed to him, it was just too much. Keef soon removed his hand and his cock took its place, thrusting into Zim as Keef sucked on his antenna. The Irken continued to whimper and moan, wishing he wasn't here at the moment and could just leave; he doubted he could try to escape next time; he closed his eyes and tried to ignore all of the pain.

Keef pulled out after a few more thrusts when he finished and lay beside the weak Irken.

~Dib and Rift~

"Please shut up." Rift groaned.

"Why the fuck would I shut up? You're the one that kidnapped me you'll just have to deal with it." Dib said. He glared at the Irken as his lone antenna twitched in irritation. "I am very seriously thinking about tearing holes in you." Rift growled. "Go ahead; you'll have a very angry Irken after you! Tharius will start to worry about us." Dib stated. Rift's eyes widened at the name and looked at the scythe haired teenager for a moment. "Tallest Tharius?" The ex-Tallest hadn't been heard from in such a long time, others wondered if he had died or something; he was here. "You're seriously annoying me kid…but thanks for the info." Rift chuckled and sat back in his seat.

"What happened to your antenna?" Dib asked, staring at the stump of an antenna that was on the Irken.

"A fight, I won it at the cost of my antenna. Shut up." Rift said.

"Oh…" Dib sighed and started humming, purely to annoy the Irken out of letting him go or something. His main worry was Zim and what Keef was doing to him; he wanted to save him or go get Tharius to help. The older Irken would know what to do, he was an Irken and he knew how to deal with his people. Tharius was a leader at one point and…he did save Dib from his own impending doom a few years ago.

~Flashback~

_Ten year old Dib walked through the park with his mother, the sky was full of stars signaling night time. It was nice and cool out and crickets were chirping very loud like they did almost every night at this time. It was only turning nine and they had just finished where she worked as a Paranormal Investigator. "We'll have to go to Crazy Taco to pick up dinner tonight Dib." She said looking down at Dib who skipped over a few rocks as he walked. "Okay." Dib smiled and followed her as they walked through the park and looked around as he heard noises. He didn't much like the park at night, not like he usually went to the park at night much anyway, it was creepy._

"Hand over the purse lady." A man with a black mask over his face said, holding up a gun to them. Dib's eyes widened as he looked up at his mother. "Mommy…what do we do?" Dib asked his mother. She looked petrified, scared out of her mind; she looked down at her son and squeezed his hand.__

"Hush Dib, everything will be ok." She told him and stared up at the man who was robbing them. "I'm afraid I have no money on me." She told him.

Dib stared at the man and glared at him; he wanted this guy to leave them alone so they could get home.

"I'm afraid that's not going to be happening lady." The man said and aimed his gun at her. "Run Dib…" His mother told him. Dib shook his head; he couldn't leave his mother to face this guy on her own. "B-but mom…" He stayed where he was and didn't move an inch from his spot.

The man growled. "The purse," He yelled. Dib's mom hurriedly gave him her purse and held onto Dib. The man rummaged through the purse, angry because he obviously couldn't find what he had been looking for. He growled and aimed the gun at her and shot at her then aimed at Dib.__

Dib's eyes widened unable to respond, his mom had gone limp and he looked at her the man aimed at him. He stared at the man and closed his eyes waiting for the man to shoot at him before hearing the man fall to the ground. The boy hesitantly opened his eyes and looked to see someone with a lab coat standing over the man.

His first thought was that dad had come to look for them but he began to look over the guy in front of him. The guy appeared to have what looked like antenna but he couldn't tell since it was getting dark out. His eyes widened, could this be an alien? He knew they existed and he had told his beliefs so many times. "A-alien…" He said.

The man in the lab coat looked over at Dib and removed his goggles to show green orbs. "You're Membrane's boy…" He looked at the woman beside Dib and went over to the young boy. "Y-you know my dad?" Dib asked shakily and dropped to his knees as he looked at his mother. "She's not coming back…is she…?"

The alien looked at her and shook his head. "I'm afraid not…we should take you back to your father and explain what happened."

~End flashback~

Dib's eyes widened as he felt his phone vibrate, it was most likely Gaz or Tharius, maybe dad. He sighed, well…he couldn't exactly get to it right now with this blue eyed Irken watching his every move.

~With Tharius~

Tharius looked at the time, Dib should have been home now with Zim a few minutes ago; he was late. He sighed and pulled out his cellphone and dialed Dib's number and waited for an answer but only got his voicemail. He sighed, something was wrong; he could sense it; Dib would always answer, even if he was busy. "Something wrong Tharius?" Lard-Nar asked as he looked over at his old friend questioningly. "Dib hasn't answered his phone." Tharius stated and looked around, his eyes landing on the Sir Unit of Zim's. "A Sir can track their masters correct?" He asked Skoodge, the chubby Irken nodded. "Yes, if anyone can find Zim, Gir could."

Tharius nodded and sighed. "Alright,"

Gir's yes went red at the mention of his master and tried to locate him. "He's with Keef." He said angrily.

The older Irken cursed, he should have known this would happen; he should have kept Zim here with him. "We'll have to go get Zim and Dib back." He said as he went down to the lab to get a few weapons out. Skoodge pulled out his weapon and sighed. "Alright, let's go."


	14. Chapter 14

Gir scanned the area for his Master; he had been reunited with him earlier only to have him taken away again. The little robot picked up his PAK signal and started heading toward the area with the others. He knew they were following him close behind and so he didn't go too fast; he stopped after a moment. The Sir stared and pointed at the building in front of him as Tharius and the others caught up with him. His eyes went red and pointed at the building before busting down the door and running into the building. Tharius and the others followed close behind; Skoodge had his weapon out and ready to shoot at anyone.

It was dark, there were some boxes everywhere but there were some sounds coming from the floor above. Skoodge made his way over to the stairs and went up them slowly so he didn't grab attention. His antenna lay on the back of his head as he listened to all the sounds that were coming from the rooms. Once he got to the top his antenna twitched as he got closer and closer to the room; he heard voices. None were Zim's but one did sound like the boy Zim had left with earlier on that day. Skoodge stood there and listened to the conversation; it sounded like whoever was in there with the boy was beating him up a bit.

Skoodge knocked the door down and there stood Rift and Dib who didn't seem too beat up at the moment. There was some blood at the corner of his mouth and his glasses were sitting lopsided on his face. "Rift, you're that insane assassin the Tallest hire all the time." The chubby Irken stated; weapon aimed at him. The other stared at him and smirked, letting go of Dib's scythe, making him fall on his ass. "Insane you say?" He asked, a chuckle escaping his mouth as he walked over to Skoodge slowly. "I'll admit, I've killed a few Irkens, lost my antenna and tortured a few just for the fun of it, if that makes me insane…"

He smirked. "Then I don't want to be sane," He stated and crossed his arms as he stared at him.

"Aren't you former Invader Skoodge? You're supposed to be dead aren't you? Thrown out the airlock?" He asked.

Skoodge glared at him and shook his head. "Nah, I was saved by the Resisty." He told him.

Rift rolled his eyes and chuckled a little crazily. "Those idiots, they can't even attack a ship to save their lives!" he laughed.

Skoodge rolled his eyes and looked at Dib. "Leave, go find Zim." He instructed the boy, weapon on Rift. The boy got up and nodded going toward the door but Rift grabbed the back of his jacket. "Sorry, that isn't gonna happen, I was about to have a little fun with the human." He smirked, looking at Skoodge. The scythe haired boy tried to get out of his grip as Skoodge growled.

"Don't make me shoot."

Rift burst out laughing and went closer to Skoodge. "You got serious problems."

"I wouldn't say so; you're the one with problems." Skoodge stated as Dib bit Rift's hand making him scream. Rift growled and wet to get him but Skoodge shot his chest making him fall to the ground. "Ah…fuck…" He groaned.

Dib ran down the hall and ended up running into Tharius who groaned at the sudden contact. "Do you know where Zim is located?" The older man asked. The boy shook his head and ran in another direction and Tharius followed after him, glancing at Skoodge. He seemed to have the situation under control so far.

Gir scanned more of the area and growled as he finally found the place his master was being kept. He busted the door open and aimed his weapons at Keef who was at the other side of the room getting dressed. "Dammit…" The red head cursed as Gir shot him, injuring his shoulder with a weapon they used against Meekrob. The redhead fell to the ground weak as Gir went over to his Master to see if he was doing alright. Zim laid there staring at Gir weakly and took him in his arms as tears fell from his ruby eyes from the pain. The pain was so unbearable he couldn't find the strength to move as Dib picked him up bridle style.

Ruby red eyes met golden in a weak stare and he gave weak purr, feeling safe in the Dib-human's arms. He closed his eyes as he was taken away and snuggled into Dib's arms weakly, antenna flat on his head. "Take him home." Tharius told Dib as he stared at the Meekrob as it went weak and closed its eyes. He waited a while before deciding to leave the room and get home to check on Zim and fix his injuries. Unbeknownst to him Keef opened his eyes and pulled out what injured him weakly as he stood up. He growled and went to check on Rift who was pretty much close to death as blue blood spewed out of his wound.

Keef growled and picked Rift up and going down to the lab and set the injured Irken on the medical table. He sighed cleaned the wound up before going and stitching it up the best he could. "Stupid Irkens," He growled. He left Rift alone after fixing him up and went over to the large computer, pushing one of the buttons. He waited for the screen to light up before sitting in the computer chair with an aggravated sigh. "Call the Tallest." He said; glaring at the screen as the computer dialed the Irkens on the massive. He sat back in his seat, turning back to his original form as he turned the dial on his bracelet.

"You've reached the Massive, how may I direct your call?" An Irken said as he popped up on the screen.

Keef stared at the Irken. "I wish to speak to your two dimwit leaders." He glared.

The Irken paused for a moment and looked away from the screen as if trying to figure out something. "They are a little busy right now and don't wish to be disturbed about things." He said; antenna twitching. A small chuckle escaped Keef's mouth as he glared up at the Irken, getting a little annoyed with her. "Yes, I'm aware they are in the middle of their love making but I simply don't care, it's important. Now, you could either connect me to them or you could be responsible for dooming the Irken race." Keef said. The Irken on the other end blushed at the mention of the Tallest making love. "I'll see what I can do."

The Irken got up and stepped away from her communications computer, stepping into the hall and heading to the door. You could hear Purple yelling for Red to go faster and telling him he was doing something wrong. This made the shorter Irken blush; he didn't want to disturb what his Tallest during this. "Yes! Yes!" Purple yelled from behind the door, Red must be pretty good if he had Purple screaming like this. The Irken shook his head at the thought and hesitantly knocked on the door and bit his lip. This was such a bad idea, why was he even doing this...he was going to be fired or thrown out the airlock for this.

"Uh…HOLD ON!" Red shouted. "Almost finished,"

"You're not hitting it right!" Purple yelled.

"I'm doing the best I can!" Red could be heard yelling.

"YES!"

The Irken blushed at hearing all this, a few seconds later Red opened the door and they were fully clothed. Sitting on the bed and controllers in their hands, playing a game on the video screen; he blushed more. "Uh…m-my Tallest…Keef is on hold, waiting for you to answer…" He said, how he could think such thoughts. This was the most embarrassing thing he had ever experienced in his whole entire life. "Right, thanks for telling us." Red said instantly and closed the door before going to the screen and switching to Keef. "Did you capture Zim?" Red asked, noticing the peeved expression on Keef's face, obviously not.

"I did…but then he was saved by his supposed mate and a former Tallest…are you aware that Tharius is still alive?"

"He's still alive? I thought he killed himself because he couldn't live without his mate." Purple chuckled.

"Shut up Purple…so Tharius saved Zim from you…and Zim has a mate? Who would want him? He's a defect and he's been tainted." Red said.

Keef rolled his eyes. "Anyway, Rift's been injured by Skoodge…apparently he's joined the Resisty."

Red's eyes widened at this, Skoodge should be dead; he had been thrown out of the airlock a few times. He was like a cockroach you couldn't get rid of even with a mass amount of bug spray which was creepy. The whole reason they got rid of Skoodge was because he knew too much, knew what they did. He had uncovered what they had kept hidden from everyone, that Zim's mess up's were their own doing. So they wouldn't be to blame for killing off Spork and Miyuki, if Skoodge were to come back…it would be bad. He could tell everyone that the Red and Purple put it all on Zim then they would be banished or killed.

"We'll send someone else." Purple said.

Red nodded in agreement. "Once we find someone."

"Great, I'll be waiting…and hurry before I decide to kill you guys off." Keef smirked.

Red and Purple gulped as Keef got off screen, Purple laid back and sighed as he thought about who to send. "What are we going to do Red, we don't kill Skoodge or Tharius all of Irk will know we killed them." He said. "All we worked for will just go in vain and our empire will be even more messed up than before." Purple said as he watched Red pace around the room, it was making him a little dizzy he had to admit. "If we can't find anyone to kill them then we'll do it ourselves." Red told him with a small sigh. "Besides, it's not like anyone is ever going to believe Skoodge or Tharius about all this, Tharius is supposed to be dead and Skoodge banished."

"True." Purple smiled.

~o3o~

Dib set Zim down on his bed and stood, about to leave him to rest but felt a weight on his jacket sleeve. He looked at the Irken, Zim didn't want him to leave; He got on the bed and laid beside Zim, pulling him close. The Irken snuggled into him, hiding his face in Dib's shirt as silent tears fell from his blood red orbs. He pet Zim's antenna back and held the Irken as close as was physically possible. "Shh…It's going to be alright…" Dib soothed, kissing the top of Zim's head as the Irken trembled in his arms. He wished he knew if he was right or not but he knew it wouldn't be unless they took care of Keef.

He could feel Zim's trembling lessen as the Irken slowly fell asleep in his arms; he smiled held him. It felt nice to have the Irken in his arms and to be lying with him and comforting the little Irken in his time of need. Right now Zim needed him and he was willing to take care of him, be there in case he felt scared. He had only just met the Irken the other day but he was willing to do anything for him. Maybe it was fair to say he sort of loved the Irken, it made sense; he wondered if Zim felt the same about this. He sighed and decided to just leave it alone for now and sleep with Zim in case he needed anything.

His thoughts were interrupted by some movement on the bed that wasn't from him or the Irken beside him. Dib looked at the foot of the bed to see Zim's robot had jumped up; he smiled, motioning him over. Gir smiled and came up to Zim and Dib, lying beside his master as he slept. "Yoos like Mastah?" Gir asked. "Yeah, I like your Master a lot…my name is Dib, what's yours?" Dib decided to ask. Even though he knew the robots name he did want to engage a little conversation with him since he belonged to Zim. "Gir, reporting for duty~" Gir said, going into duty mode for a second making Dib chuckle a little.

"Nice to meet you Gir,"

"I likes yoo Mary." Gir giggled.

Dib chuckled and decided not to correct the robot even though he gave him the wrong name, it didn't matter. He smiled as Gir curled up beside Zim and went into sleep mode, Dib soon followed. He was exhausted from the events of earlier and sleep would do him good about now; he fell asleep instantly.


End file.
